Dual rallies and petition protest child killer Terri-Lynne McClintic's transfer to healing lodge

Dual rallies in protest ofconvicted child murderer Terri-Lynne McClintic'stransfer to an Indigenous Healing Lodge on theNekaneet First Nation are scheduled Friday for Parliament Hill and Maple Creek, Sask.

McClinticis currently serving a life sentence for the 2009 rape and murder of eight-year-oldToriStafford.

Tori's fatherRodney Stafford and supporters plan to gather at Parliament Hill while other supporters rally in Maple Creek, which is located in southwest Saskatchewan near NekaneetFirst Nation.

"What we really want is for people to understand what's going on, to support Rodney Stafford and his rally, and to give people in our community and surrounding areas a place to come and talk," said Penny Steinkey, one of four organizers of the Maple Creek rally, which is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CST on Friday at the Land of Living Skies park.

McClintic's transfer to Saskatchewan's Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge sparked heated debate and insults in the House of Commons, with the Conservatives clashing with the federal Liberal government over the move by Correctional Services of Canada.

Conservative MP for Cypress Hills Grasslands David Andersonis sponsoring an e-petition that calls on the federal government "to exercise its moral, legal and political authority" and reverse the decision to transfer McClintic to the healing lodge.

The petition has collected about 7,300 signatures so far, and will be open until Feb. 2, after which Anderson plans to present it to the House of Commons.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has ordered Correctional Services Canada to review the policies and procedures leading to the transfer. He has said politicians do not control prisoners' security classificationsand do not have the legal authority to intervene.

Steinkey said she hopes the rally brings further attention to the e-petition, to draw more signatories whobelieve, as she does, that an Indigenous healing lodge is not the right place for McClintic.

"She's going to get Aboriginal healing here, but not the psychological help I think she needs," she said.