Sorry Sleuth .. your statements simply are not factual. Murder is murder, whether first or second degree, both get life sentences of 25 years.
If kidnapping or forcible confinement are involved, then it is 1st degree murder with a life sentence of 25 years and parole cannot be applied for before those full 25 years are served.
Anyone convicted of 2nd degree murder still gets a life sentence of 25 years, just that the parole eligibility period is less than the 25 years .. a judge can set parole eligibility between 10 to 25 years.
Links to the relevant Criminal Code sections have been provided many times to support the above; perhaps a Wiki article might explain it in a more simplistic fashion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_(Canadian_law)
<bbm>
An older Vancouver Sun article, but easy to understand for those who are not familiar with Canadian law:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=bc4804bd-660c-493d-aeb1-3474f182af18