The Canadian correctional services began planning their public response to the transfer of Paul Bernardo in January, nearly six months before the convicted killer was moved from a maximum-security prison.

Documents obtained by "CTV News" through a freedom of information request reveal that staff acknowledged that Bernardo's transfer might attract media interest nearly six months before it happened, and before the transfer was confirmed, media and public interest remains high to this day.

Mr. Bernardo held two parole hearings, in October 2018 and June 2021, both of which garnered significant media attention from the media, victims, and the general public.

The 62-year-old killer is serving a life sentence without parole for the kidnapping, sexual assault, torture, and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s. He was also convicted of manslaughter in the death of Tammy Homolka, and he has been classified, and remains, a dangerous offender.

For about a decade, Bernardo had been serving his sentence at Millhaven Institute near Kingston. On May 29, he was loaded into a vehicle and driven 4.5 hours non-stop to La Macaza Institution in Quebec, which had been holding a bed for him since May 15, as indicated by an email in April.

According to a transfer assessment conducted in February, which was also obtained by the news site, Millhaven staff, the Security Intelligence Unit, and the Case Management Team, a group that evaluates and supervises offenders during their sentence, "believe that this proposed transfer may attract less negative attention if it is outside the area where the index offenses occurred."

They noted in the report that there were no viable alternatives in Ontario for transferring Bernardo, and an email sent in February to Kiersten Gagnon, the communications and engagement assistant commissioner in corrections, indicated that the agency had prepared some talking points for transferring Bernardo to a medium-security prison in August 2022, and that these same points could be reused.

The department's office later requested clarification on whether transfers were announced publicly, and in response, the communications director within corrections said that although transfers are not publicly announced, there is always a chance they could become known, so they prepared messages, and then the same talking points were sent in February to their office.

Emails regarding potential media inquiries came in late May just days before Bernardo's actual move, and on May 23, Gagnon received an email from a colleague stating that the "proposed messages" had been approved by the legal department.

The talking points were divided into subheadings, including "high level," "successive security levels," and "transfers," and the statements were somewhat less technical than what had been initially proposed in February and highlighted that public safety had taken this into account.

The messages clarify that nothing had changed regarding Bernardo's sentence, and they included a statement about how difficult it is to transfer inmates for the victims, as well as messages to be used "if pressed" about whether the offender would eventually be transferred to a lower security facility.

This message was then sent to the Privy Council Office of the federal government on May 25, and it was also received by staff in the office of the Minister of Public Safety.

Between May 30 and June 2, media requests began flooding the inbox, and no one confirmed, in an email, Bernardo's transfer just days prior, and a particular paragraph was circulated more than others.

Public safety is the paramount consideration in every decision made by the correctional services in Canada, while we cannot comment on the details of the offender's case, we assure the public that this offender remains housed in a safe institution, with appropriate security perimeter and controls, and it is important to note that this offender is serving an indeterminate sentence, meaning there is no end date to his sentence.

Victims' family members were notified on the morning of the transfer, and the conversation script was finalized, which was redacted in documents obtained by CTV.

An email sent on May 26 expressed concern about the optics of notifying victims before the transfer occurred, and the staff member, who works in the communications and executive services branch in Canadian corrections, noted that current policy supports notification after the transfer is completed.

"What concerns me is that other victims may wonder why these particular victims were given advance notice," the email stated, "I understand the empathy and decision-making in this particular case, however, I want to be able to place the victim services unit to defend against potential questions arising from other victims."

A review of the correctional decision to transfer Bernardo, released on Thursday, found that the branch went "beyond policy" to notify victims, however, it also stated that additional steps should have been taken to provide "more proactive and meaningful discussions."

Emails indicate that everyone was notified except for victims' families' lawyers by 1 p.m. on May 29, and Bernardo arrived at La Macaza Institution at approximately the same time.