Dane Lloyd, MP for Sturgeon River-Parkland introduced McCanns’ Law in the House of Commons.

Bill C-437, introduced today, will support the families of homicide victims. This Bill creates consequences for those convicted of an offence related to the death of a person(s) who refuse to provide information regarding the location of the body or remains of the victim—consequences at sentencing, in parole eligibility determination, and for conditional release applications.

In 2010, Lyle and Marie McCann of St. Albert, Alberta, were senselessly murdered by Travis Vader. Vader was convicted of manslaughter in 2017 and received a life sentence. He will be eligible for parole in 2021. To this day the bodies of Lyle and Marie have not been located and Vader continues to refuse to give the victims’ family peace by revealing the location of their remains. Unfortunately, this is not the only case in Canada where a killer has concealed the bodies of their victims.

The McCanns’ son, Bret McCann, had this to say, “…by withholding where he left their bodies, Vader is able to continuously revictimize our family. And without a proper funeral and memorial, our family is unable to fully grieve and reach a measure of closure.”

There are no current requirements for sentencing judges or parole boards to consider ongoing refusal by offenders to share relevant information relating to the location of the remains of homicide victims. This Bill changes that and ensures that authorities have the tools necessary to get justice and closure for victims’ families.

“This isn’t about being vindictive and punishing criminals. This is about giving the tools to our justice system to help families find the remains of their loved ones,” said Dane Lloyd.

The Bill was seconded by Louis-Saint-Laurent MP, Gérard Deltell.

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For more information and media availability for both Dane Lloyd and Bret McCann, contact:
Dane Lloyd, MP
(613) 996-0704
Dane.lloyd@parl.gc.ca