Edwards Lobbies in Ottawa

The game against the Senators was the easy part for Don Edwards, who spent a long Thursday in Ottawa.

Harder was reliving the memories of March 21, 1991, and the fatal shooting of Donna Edwards and the fatal stabbing of Arnold Edwards near Hamilton, Canada. It still hurts Edwards, the Kings’ goalie coach, to talk about his parents in the past tense, which he did over and over again to politicians and journalists Thursday in support of a bill before Canadian Parliament that would make sure convicted multiple murderers do not serve concurrent life sentences that would make them eligible for what victims’ families consider early parole.

Life in Canada generally means 25 years, and George Lovie, serving concurrent life sentences for the two murders, is eligible for parole in another 7 1/2 years.

“Adolf Hitler killed six million people, and he could only get 25 years,” Edwards said of his displeasure with his country’s legal system. “And the history of Canada is early parole.”

The measure, sponsored by Alberni Guarnieri of Mississauga, near Toronto, would allow judges to hand out consecutive rather than concurrent sentences for multiple murders, extending the 25 years to 50 or more for multiple murders and also the 15 years now required before a murderer can be eligible for parole.

“If I have to, I’ll come back after the season and talk to the prime minister,” said Edwards, who spent part of the day lobbying hockey Hall of Famer Frank Mahovlich, now a senator. “This bill is important to me.”