Students in McGill University's law faculty are divided over the presence on campus of a convicted murderer who is serving a life sentence and attending classes while on day parole, CBC reported on October 16.
The man, Jeffrey George Ewert, was convicted of second-degree murder and attempted murder for two attacks in British Columbia in 1984. He was granted day parole in 2025, has been attending law classes and faculty events at McGill since August, and had his parole extended for a further six months in June 2026, according to a summary of his parole board file reported by CBC.
Parole documents cited in the reporting describe clinical assessments that ranked his risk of reoffending between moderate and high, while noting that with close supervision at a halfway house and clinical follow-up the risk appeared to fall into the moderate range. His case management team did not believe he posed an undue risk to society, the documents say, though the parole board expressed concern about his interactions with and attitudes toward women.
The case has reopened a familiar debate on Canadian campuses and beyond: how universities should weigh the safety concerns of students against the parole system's stated goal of supervised reintegration for offenders who have served decades in custody.
