David Wynn's Law would make it more difficult for criminals to get bail
Shelly MacInnis-Wynn believes husband might still be alive if criminal history was part of bail hearing
Shelly MacInnis-Wynn doesn't want anyone to go through what she has.
She delivered that message to some powerful politicians in Ottawa on Thursday.
It was tragic circumstances that led her to speak in front of a Senate committee, pushing for an amendment to the Criminal Code.
On January 17, 2015, her husband, RCMP Const. David Wynn, was shot and killed at the Apex Casino in St. Albert.
His assailant, Shawn Rehn, was out on bail at the time of the shooting.
Despite having more that 30 outstanding charges, Rehn was granted interim release without any prior offences being mentioned at his bail hearing.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Bob Runciman, would amend the Criminal Code and make it mandatory for prosecutors at bail hearings to present evidence that an accused has a prior criminal history, outstanding charges and a history of failing to appear in court.
MacInnis-Wynn's speech in favour of the change was emotional.
"I am here to help you see how I have to live my life every second of every day without my husband," she said before showing pictures of her husband and their three sons.
"This Sunday is Father's Day. They don't have a father to spend that with, they don't have any more chances to make new memories."
MacInnis-Wynn told the committee that she's been through endless hours of counselling to deal with what happened.
"Especially the moment that I had to tell my three children that their father wasn't going to make it," she said through tears.
"That is something that I have to live with every single day of my life and that is something that I wish on no one, absolutely no one.
"Shawn Rehn should not have been on the streets, he should not [have] been let out after that bail hearing," she said of the man who took her husband's life.
"He had been given chance after chance over the years and it was very evident that he was not going to turn his life around.
"I believe that if his history was brought forth that he would not have been back out on the streets … and my husband may still be here today."
The bill now goes to third reading.