TORONTO — CTV News reports that Karla Homolka plans to apply for a pardon and will be eligible to do so as early as July 5.

Sources tell CTV she may be successful unless the government passes legislation that is now before the House of Commons.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said earlier this spring that Homolka’s upcoming eligibility spurred the proposed reforms to the system. Although the government would like the House to sit until the bill passes, that would require unanimous approval.

The vast majority of convicts who applied for a pardon were granted one.

The rule changes follow a public outcry after the National Parole Board granted a pardon to sex offender Graham James, a former junior hockey coach, in 2007.

Homolka received a 12-year manslaughter sentence in a plea-bargain deal for taking part in the rape-murders of teens Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.