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OTTAWA —Conservative MP Dane Lloyd has tabled a private member’s bill that would impose tougher consequences on offenders who refuse to disclose the location of a homicide victim’s remains.
Lloyd introduced Bill C-236, known as McCann’s Law, in the House of Commons Sept. 22. The legislation would allow judges and parole boards to consider an offender’s refusal to reveal a victim’s whereabouts during sentencing, parole eligibility and conditional release applications.
The bill is named after Lyle and Marie McCann of St. Albert, Alta., who were killed in 2010. Travis Vader was convicted of manslaughter in their deaths and sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after seven years. The McCanns’ bodies have never been found.
Their son, Bret McCann, said Vader continues to inflict pain on the family by withholding information. “Without a proper funeral and memorial, our family was unable to fully grieve and reach some degree of closure,” he said.
Lloyd, who represents the Alberta riding of Sturgeon River–Parkland, said families deserve justice. “Those who would deny them these fundamental rights must be held to account,” he told reporters.
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