The presence of a convicted murderer attending law school at McGill University has sparked a debate among students about campus safety, transparency, rehabilitation and whether people who have spent decades in prison should be given opportunities to rebuild their lives.
Jeffrey George Ewert, who is serving a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder and attempted murder, began attending classes at McGill's Faculty of Law in August while on day parole.
Some students became concerned after learning about his criminal history through their own research. They questioned why the university had not informed students and whether they should have been told about the safeguards surrounding his presence on campus.
Other students, however, said they had positive interactions with Ewert and believed his return to education was an important part of rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
Students raise concerns about transparency
Several McGill law students who spoke with CBC said they were unsettled after discovering that a fellow student had been convicted of extremely violent crimes.
One concern was not simply Ewert's presence but the lack of information available to students about his history and the measures in place to protect the university community.
Students said that if they had known about his background and understood what precautions were being taken, they could have made more informed decisions about how they interacted with him.
Some students were particularly concerned because many law-school activities involve close interaction between students, including group assignments and meetings with teaching assistants.
The students also said they were aware that other members of the law faculty had raised concerns with the university.
McGill says criminal background checks are not normally part of admissions
CBC asked McGill whether the university knew about Ewert's criminal history and parole status when he was admitted and whether special security measures had been considered.
The university declined to discuss Ewert's individual circumstances because of privacy laws. McGill said criminal background checks are not normally part of admissions procedures at Canadian universities.
The university nevertheless said that it would respond quickly if information about a student's background or conduct raised concerns and that it could work with government authorities and use available policies to protect the campus community.
McGill also said it would review its admissions processes to determine whether changes were necessary.
Ewert's lawyer says McGill knew about his history
Ewert declined an interview, but his lawyer, Nora Demnati, spoke on his behalf. Demnati said McGill was aware of Ewert's history and parole status when he applied to the law program. She said Ewert had been open about his past and his conditions and had not attempted to hide his identity or parole status.
Although she understands why some students may feel uncomfortable, Demnati argues that Ewert was in his 20s when he committed the offences and is now in his 60s.
She said he has worked for decades to change his life and believes his opportunity to study law is part of the rehabilitation process.
Demnati also expressed disappointment that Ewert was not given an opportunity to meet with concerned students and address their questions directly.
His criminal history dates back to 1984
Ewert was convicted for two violent attacks against women in British Columbia in 1984. In May of that year, he encountered Corrina Lea Makiev, who was hitchhiking outside a nightclub. According to court and parole records, Ewert choked her unconscious, sexually assaulted and beat her before leaving her in the Fraser River. She was later found dead.
Less than six weeks later, on June 17, Ewert attacked a 15-year-old family friend at his adoptive parents' home.
The teenager suffered catastrophic injuries, including permanent brain damage and physical disabilities. She was left in a ditch but survived and has never been able to live independently.
Ewert was subsequently convicted of second-degree murder in Makiev's death and attempted murder in connection with the attack on the teenager.
Ewert was granted day parole in 2025 after initially being denied parole. His parole was extended for another six months in June 2026.
Parole documents have identified concerns about his attitudes toward women and his understanding of factors connected to his previous offences. Various clinical assessments have placed his risk of reoffending in the moderate-to-high range, although parole officials have said that close supervision and clinical follow-up place his risk more within the moderate category.
His release comes with several conditions. Among them are restrictions concerning drinking establishments, requirements to report relationships with women and monitoring of his communications.
The parole board imposed additional conditions after concerns arose about his interactions with women on social media, including viewing women's profiles, communicating with them and exploring a dating website without notifying his case-management team.
Ewert's reintegration has not been without setbacks. His day parole was temporarily suspended in 2025 after concerns about his interactions with women and his conduct at a community residential facility.
The Correctional Service of Canada says parole supervision involves continuing monitoring of an offender's activities, including educational opportunities, personal and professional environments and social-media use.
Officials can take immediate action if an offender's risk increases or if there are concerns about compliance with release conditions. That action can include suspending release and returning the person to custody.
Social-media activity adds to concerns
CBC also found social-media accounts believed to belong to Ewert, operating under a different name. The accounts showed him communicating with women and commenting on photographs.
His lawyer said she was unaware of the specific comments identified by CBC. She also argued that occasional breaches can occur as someone adjusts to life outside prison after spending decades incarcerated.
The issue has nevertheless become part of the broader debate over how parole supervision works when someone begins attending a university and interacting with a large community of students.
Some McGill students support his education
Not every student who has interacted with Ewert believes he represents a danger. CBC also spoke with students who knew about his convictions and said their experiences with him had been positive.
Some said they had spent time alone with him without feeling threatened or unsafe. One student argued that discomfort and actual danger are not necessarily the same thing and said Ewert's efforts to improve his life and return to school should not automatically be dismissed.
These students believe that education can be an important part of rehabilitation and that Ewert's experiences could provide a different perspective within a law-school environment.
Rehabilitation versus public safety
The controversy has raised a difficult question for universities and the broader justice system: How should society balance rehabilitation with the safety and confidence of the communities to which people return after long prison sentences?
Alysha McDonald, an assistant professor of sociology at MacEwan University, told CBC that education can help offenders reintegrate by providing structure, purpose and opportunities to develop a new social identity.
But she also noted that universities often do not have clear or consistent processes for handling situations in which an individual with a serious criminal history returns to an educational community.
The McGill case illustrates the challenge. For advocates of rehabilitation, preventing people from rebuilding their lives after imprisonment can undermine the very purpose of reintegration.
For students who feel vulnerable, however, the question is whether they should have been given more information about circumstances that could affect their sense of safety.
Ewert's Indigenous background played a role in his parole proceedings
Ewert's parole history has also involved Canada's legal framework concerning Indigenous offenders. He first applied for parole in 2022, but the Parole Board of Canada rejected the application after determining that he continued to pose an undue risk to society.
Ewert challenged that decision in Federal Court. A judge subsequently ruled that the parole board had failed to properly consider Gladue principles, which require courts and other decision-makers to take into account the circumstances of Indigenous people when making certain decisions.
Ewert has been involved in litigation concerning prisoners' rights and the rights of Indigenous prisoners.
In 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in his favour in a case concerning the validity of certain correctional risk-assessment tools when applied to Indigenous offenders.
He also leads the Canadian Prisoners' Labour Confederation, an organization advocating for labour rights for incarcerated people.
A history of trauma and claims of personal change
Parole documents say Ewert has attributed some of his past violence to his upbringing. According to those documents, his birth mother was Métis and he was adopted by a white British Columbia family.
Ewert has alleged that his adoptive father struggled with alcoholism and that his adoptive mother experienced psychological illness. He has also alleged that he suffered physical, mental and emotional abuse during his childhood.
His lawyer says Ewert has spent years examining the causes of his violent behaviour and has been sober for decades.
She argues that the man who committed the crimes in his 20s is not the same person who is now trying to build a different life in his 60s.
Ewert's absence from campus
The controversy intensified after students raised concerns with McGill. Students who spoke with CBC said they had not seen Ewert on campus since Oct. 6.
His lawyer confirmed his absence but said Ewert was still trying to adjust to the experience of being a university student, including attending classes, studying and learning new technology.
The circumstances surrounding his absence have not been fully explained publicly. McGill has not disclosed details about Ewert's individual situation because of privacy restrictions.
A wider debate about Canada's justice system
The situation at McGill extends beyond one university or one parolee.It raises broader questions about what rehabilitation should look like after a person has served decades in prison, how universities should respond when a student has a serious criminal history and how much information institutions should provide to other members of their communities.
Supporters of Ewert's return to education argue that rehabilitation cannot be meaningful if people are permanently excluded from society because of crimes committed decades earlier.
Critics, meanwhile, say rehabilitation must be accompanied by transparency, effective supervision and consideration for the safety and well-being of others.
For McGill students, the debate has become a real-life example of the difficult balance between second chances and public confidence.
At the centre of the controversy is a convicted killer who is now pursuing a law education while serving a life sentence under community supervision—and a university community struggling with how to reconcile the possibility of personal transformation with the severity of the crimes that brought him there.