Key Takeaways
- Jeffrey George Ewert returned to custody after Correctional Service Canada suspended his day parole.
- The Parole Board of Canada will decide whether Ewert's parole continues; the suspension is not a new criminal charge.
- Ewert's case has prompted debate about rehabilitation, public safety and the impact on victims and communities.
Back behind bars
A convicted murderer who had been attending law classes at McGill University while on day parole is back in custody.
Correctional Service Canada confirmed on Saturday that a suspension warrant was issued for Jeffrey George Ewert and that he "has returned to custody while a more thorough assessment of the situation is being conducted." Ewert was picked up on Friday, October 23.
The correctional service declined to say which parole condition he is alleged to have breached, citing privacy law. A parole suspension is not a new criminal charge — the Parole Board of Canada will now decide whether his parole continues.
Who Ewert is
Ewert, who is in his 60s, is serving a life sentence for the 1984 second-degree murder of Corrina Lea Makiev in British Columbia, and for the attempted murder of a 15-year-old girl who was left paralyzed and brain-damaged.
He was granted day parole in 2025 and began attending McGill law classes and faculty events in August and September 2026. His presence on campus drew petitions both for and against him, and he has not been on campus since early October.
The record behind the decision
Ewert's parole was extended for six months on June 1, 2026. That Parole Board decision records an earlier suspension in May 2025, after he collected the phone numbers of multiple women despite a condition requiring him to disclose such contacts.
The same decision notes clinical assessments rating his risk of reoffending as moderate to high.
The case has fuelled a wider debate — on campus and beyond — over where the line sits between rehabilitation and public safety when an offender's victims and community are still living with the consequences.
Photo: Illuminatusds / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) — McGill University in Montreal.