CAVEAT, Canadians Against Violence Everywhere is capitalizing on the public’s interest in Canada’s justice system stirred up by the recent Bernardo trial to launch a national public service campaign.
Transit shelter posters and billboards went up recently and radio and tv spots are appearing on stations across the country.
caveat is a national non-profit association started by Priscilla de Villiers in 1992 to allow citizens to be heard on issues such as Canada’s parole laws and gun control.
De Villiers’ daughter Nina was murdered by a man out on bail in 1991.
The campaign was created by SMW Advertising of Toronto.
The billboards show the headstone on the grave of a 17 year-old girl and the police mug shot of a man. The headline reads, ‘Who Really Got Life?’
The psa tv spot in black and white begins with the sound of prison doors clanging shut and, in voiceover:
‘Seven years ago this man raped and murdered a little girl, and thanks to Canada’s justice system he’s getting what’s coming to him. Freedom.’
