FREDERICTON -- Three provinces and the Criminal Lawyers' Association of Ontario have been granted intervener status in Dennis Oland's appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to get bail.
The court has ruled that the association and the attorneys general of Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia can intervene when the hearing begins on Oct. 31.
Oland, 48, was sentenced in February to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, after being found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2011 bludgeoning death of his multimillionaire father.
He is seeking release pending the appeal of his murder conviction, but the request has already been denied by two lower courts in New Brunswick.
Ontario's attorney general says the public expects sentences for murder and other serious offences to be enforced, and bail should only be considered when there are "very strong" grounds of appeal.
Oland's lawyers opposed the application by the three provinces but not the Criminal Lawyers' Association of Ontario.
The bail appeal won't be heard until after the appeal of Oland's conviction -- set for Oct. 18-21.
