Tear Gas Launcher Deployed as Coronavirus Tensions Spiral in Canadian Prisons
Inmates and advocates worry that Correctional Services Canada’s bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to violence.
By Justin Ling Apr 24 2020
THE BOWDEN INSTITUTION MEDIUM SECURITY FACILITY NEAR BOWDEN, ALTA., THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/JEFF MCINTOSH
As tensions mount inside Canada’s prisons due to COVID-19, corrections officers have begun deploying pepper spray and rubber bullets against inmates. Fears are mounting that things could spiral out of control quickly.
Prison advocates and watchdogs say corrections officers have deployed tear gas and rubber bullets in prisons in Saskatchewan and Quebec.
As of Friday morning, Correctional Services Canada (CSC) has not responded to multiple requests for statistics on use of force inside its prisons in recent weeks.
At the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, no cases of the virus have been found yet, but there is emerging frustration on both sides. Earlier this week, inmate Bronson Gordon told CBC that guards at the maximum security wing of the prison were still refusing to wear masks and gloves.
In a recording from Wednesday evening, provided to VICE, Gordon said the interview had caused friction inside the prison. “They’re offended because of the thing that came on the news,” Gordon said, referring to the CBC story. Gordon said guards have called him and other inmates “snitches.”
That evening, as inmates went outside to snap some pictures—with visits cancelled, many inmates have taken to mailing disposable cameras to their loved ones—the corrections officers closed the door behind them, the inmates said. “They locked us outside,” Gordon said on the call, a recording of which was provided to VICE by prison advocate Sherri Maier.
The inmates were stuck outside for about a half hour in shorts and tank tops, according to Gordon and another inmate. Temperatures that evening were above freezing, but Gordon said it was still April in Saskatchewan—“cold.”
After being let back inside the prison, the recording picks up the sounds of frustrations mounting. “None of them are wearing masks right now,” Gordon said. “We’ve got one officer wearing a mask.”
Loud arguments can be heard in the background. At one point, two inmates confirmed, a corrections officer fetched a tear gas launcher.
In the background, inmates can be heard taunting the officers. Bronson said the inmate population is not looking to riot. “We’re pretty fucking close, though,” he said. “It’s not going to end good.”
Similar warnings have come from inside prisons across the country in recent weeks.
The call cuts out as inmates return to their cells. Maier, who spoke with Gordon the following day, said they averted physical conflict that night, but the prison has since tightened the prison lockdown even further. With no gym, no visits, and conflict over the corrections officers not wearing masks, things are coming to a head, unless something improves. Correctional Services has not responded to enquiries about the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.
At the Donnacona Penitentiary in Quebec, a maximum security institution, an inmate told the John Howard Society that inmates had been blocking their windows to protest conditions—inside many institutions, the only vantage point into a cell is the small window in the door. Blocking it with a pillow or clothing means guards cannot do their rounds, and has served as a form of peaceful protests for many inmates.
Rather than de-escalate the situation, the inmate said, the corrections officers fired teargas and “followed it with firearms using rubber bullets, which injured several prisoners—one had to be taken to an outside hospital for treatment.”
One inmate, they said, “came forward with his hands in the air saying ‘don’t shoot,’ to remove the barrier [in the window.] He was then shot in the leg.”
Correctional Services has not responded to a request for comment on the situation at Donnacona.
Many inmates report that corrections officers are not following protocols.
An April 8 directive from Correctional Services reads : "All asymptomatic staff/contractors who are unable to physically distance themselves (ie: be 2 meters apart) must wear a mask while in the workplace/institution.” A copy of that directive was leaked to VICE after Correctional Services refused to provide it.
More recently, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has said that “every single corrections service worker and inmate in those institutions is being issued with personal protective equipment to help them be safe.” He made those comments on a Facebook townhall with a Liberal MP. The minister’s office has consistently refused interview requests.
The inmates were stuck outside for about a half hour in shorts and tank tops, according to Gordon and another inmate. Temperatures that evening were above freezing, but Gordon said it was still April in Saskatchewan—“cold.”
After being let back inside the prison, the recording picks up the sounds of frustrations mounting. “None of them are wearing masks right now,” Gordon said. “We’ve got one officer wearing a mask.”
Loud arguments can be heard in the background. At one point, two inmates confirmed, a corrections officer fetched a tear gas launcher.
In the background, inmates can be heard taunting the officers. Bronson said the inmate population is not looking to riot. “We’re pretty fucking close, though,” he said. “It’s not going to end good.”
Similar warnings have come from inside prisons across the country in recent weeks.
The call cuts out as inmates return to their cells. Maier, who spoke with Gordon the following day, said they averted physical conflict that night, but the prison has since tightened the prison lockdown even further. With no gym, no visits, and conflict over the corrections officers not wearing masks, things are coming to a head, unless something improves. Correctional Services has not responded to enquiries about the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.
At the Donnacona Penitentiary in Quebec, a maximum security institution, an inmate told the John Howard Society that inmates had been blocking their windows to protest conditions—inside many institutions, the only vantage point into a cell is the small window in the door. Blocking it with a pillow or clothing means guards cannot do their rounds, and has served as a form of peaceful protests for many inmates.
Rather than de-escalate the situation, the inmate said, the corrections officers fired teargas and “followed it with firearms using rubber bullets, which injured several prisoners—one had to be taken to an outside hospital for treatment.”
One inmate, they said, “came forward with his hands in the air saying ‘don’t shoot,’ to remove the barrier [in the window.] He was then shot in the leg.”
Correctional Services has not responded to a request for comment on the situation at Donnacona.
Many inmates report that corrections officers are not following protocols.
An April 8 directive from Correctional Services reads : "All asymptomatic staff/contractors who are unable to physically distance themselves (ie: be 2 meters apart) must wear a mask while in the workplace/institution.” A copy of that directive was leaked to VICE after Correctional Services refused to provide it.
More recently, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair has said that “every single corrections service worker and inmate in those institutions is being issued with personal protective equipment to help them be safe.” He made those comments on a Facebook townhall with a Liberal MP. The minister’s office has consistently refused interview requests.
Every inmate, and one healthcare worker, has confirmed that the usage of masks is inconsistent. VICE has been told of only one institution where inmates have been given masks—and have been required to wear them, under threat of disciplinary charge—in contrast to the minister’s categorical statement.
“One of the inmate cleaners requested the use of a mask while he was cleaning and was flatly refused,” says the partner of one inmate incarcerated at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
Paul Gallagher, who is incarcerated at the Pacific Institution—not far from Mission, which has seen the worst outbreak in the federal system—says when it comes to officers wearing masks, “some are, some aren’t.” When asked if he had been issued personal protective equipment, he laughed. “I put in a request [for a mask] about a week ago,” he said. “I don’t expect a response.”
As of Wednesday, 193 federal inmates have tested positive for COVID-19—though fewer than 600 tests have been administered. One inmate has died, and others have been sent to provincial hospitals, although Correctional Services still refuses to provide data on the number of hospitalizations. Inmates are only being tested if they have symptoms.
The New Democratic Party has called on Ottawa to begin releasing inmates at a higher health risk, but who are deemed a lower risk to society, to lighten the burden on these institutions.
“This is not just about the prisoners,” Jack Harris, the NDP’s public safety critic, told VICE. “The guards themselves are at risk, because they're in the same situation as the prisoners, as are the communities outside these prisons.”
Harris said he has not heard from Blair or his office since they received a briefing earlier in March, when the minister insisted they were working with Correctional Services and the Parole Board of Canada to assess their options for releasing inmates.
“The main concern at this point is to raise the alarm,” Harris said. “There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency.”
Inside the Canadian Prison Hardest Hit by the Coronavirus Pandemic
One inmate has died and at least 60 have tested positive for COVID-19 at Mission Institution. We spoke to a prisoner on what conditions are like inside the federal prison.By Justin Ling Apr 21 2020
THE MISSION INSTITUTION IS PICTURED TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020. COVID-19 HAS INFECTED SEVERAL OF THE INMATES AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AT THE FACILITY. THE CANADIAN PRESS/JONATHAN HAYWARD
Even as the coronavirus outbreak was emerging in federal prisons, staff were being told not to wear personal protective equipment. The Canadian government only began providing masks and gloves after healthcare workers reported unsafe work conditions, despite plenty of early warning that prisons were a ticking time bomb for the spread of the virus.
And now, as of yesterday, 177 federal inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Provincial institutions have also been hard hit.
The worst outbreak in the country is at Mission Institution, a medium-security prison near Abbotsford, British Columbia, where 60 inmates have tested positive for the virus. One inmate has already died, and others are in hospital. Ten staff members have also tested positive for coronavirus.
Dillan Cote, an inmate at Mission, told VICE on Friday that, right up until the cases began to spiral out of control in the prison, the administration was failing to guard against the virus.
The inmates requested the jail take the temperature of corrections officers showing up for work, to ensure that none were unwittingly transporting the virus into the prison. “We don't get it. They refused that,” Cote said. The inmates requested that they be fed in their cells, rather than all 250 of them crowding into the cafeteria. “It was denied.”
On April 3, after they began reporting cases, Mission put the entire prison on lockdown.
“We didn't even have showers for [the first] five days of the lockdown,” Cote said. Since then, inmates have only been let out for 10 to 20 minutes at a time, sometimes every other day, to shower and make a phone call. “No exercise, no fresh air.”
“One of the guys who is sick is one of the unit cleaners,” Cote said. “And he was out the other day cleaning the unit.” Cote says their cleaning supplies are so diluted with water that he’s not even sure it’s helping.
The conditions are putting the entire prison on edge, he said.
“I feel like the whole jail is on the verge of having a freak out, or doing something,” Cote said. “Because they're treating us poorly. We're not getting fed properly. You know, it takes a toll on your mental health, for sure.”
Even since they’ve been in lockdown, the prison is not taking basic steps to prevent transmission of the virus.
“I just asked the officer today: Why aren't we getting hand sanitizer in there? They’re like: ‘Because you guys drink it,’” Cote said.
As the pandemic unfolded, and cases began to emerge in federal prisons, the Trudeau government repeatedly insisted it had the outbreak under control.
On March 13, Correctional Services Canada said that they had in place the necessary “medical responses, equipment requirements, and protocols” for an influenza outbreak. On March 23 they wrote that “employees are actively screening anyone that must enter institutions.” Two days after that they wrote that they had taken stock of their personal protective equipment and that they would “purchase additional supplies as necessary.” The same day, they wrote that they had “distributed additional soap, cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer to staff and inmates.”
VICE wrote in late March that few of those precautions were actually being implemented.
But by April 2, healthcare workers on British Columbia’s lower mainland—the area which includes MIssion—said they were not being given adequate protection. A letter to Correctional Services Canada, provided to VICE, said: “We feel that the direction for healthcare staff to not use PPE (ie gloves and mask) during the 'hands on' intake process of inmates, who are being placed in the Medical isolation Unit, creates an unsafe work environment."
While Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam says testing is key to fighting COVID-19 in prisons, just 533 inmates have been tested since the pandemic began. The federal prison population sits at about 15,000.
A new directive only went out on April 8, encouraging all staff to wear masks. Even then, the administration is “dolling [PPE] out as they see fit,” a healthcare worker says. Multiple sources inside these institutions say some corrections officers are not wearing masks.
Inmates at more than a half dozen prisons across the country have not been given masks.
Prison transfers have continued as well. An inmate from Mission was moved to another facility nearby, and later tested positive. Sherri Maier, a prison advocate, was told by inmates at other institutions in British Columbia, and as far away as Saskatchewan, that inmates from Mission are being transferred into those institutions.
“This is ridiculous, but seems to be the plan CSC has taken,” Maier said. “Rather than release guys, they transfer them.”
There are several federal prisons near Mission which, one healthcare worker says, are not preparing. “There’s no cases there, so they’ve got their heads in the sand and their fingers crossed,” they said.
Calls have mounted for Correctional Services Canada to begin releasing inmates.
Last Thursday, I requested an interview with Public Safety Minister Bill Blair. “We aren’t able to accommodate an interview today,” his office responded Friday.
While he had no time to speak to journalists, Blair spent that Friday evening on a Facebook townhall with a Liberal MP. On that call, Blair was asked about releasing inmates.
“I can tell you that 600 people have already been released just in the last month that we identified as being eligible for release,” Blair said, though he clarified Monday that most of those 600 inmates were released as part of their regular parole eligibility.
Cote is not eligible for parole for another few years. The guy in the cell next to him, however, is slated to be released in six months. “He's wondering if he can get out, because his life's in danger,” he said. Other inmates are still being sent back to prison on minor parole violations.
One offender, who was released earlier this month from a CSC-run halfway house in Toronto on a 14-day medical leave pass, was told to return to the facility this week because his pass expired. One of the offenders in the halfway house has COVID-19 symptoms, he said.
Provinces, meanwhile, have taken drastic steps to empty out jails. Ontario and the Northwest Territories have reduced their prison population by a quarter. The courts have been weighing the threat of COVID-19 heavily in deciding bail and sentencing. Government lawyers, however, are still seeking jailtime for many offenders.
For weeks, Minister Blair’s office has refused interview requests on the crisis hitting Canada’s prisons. While various members of Trudeau’s cabinet involved in the pandemic response have participated in daily media briefings, Blair has not been available to journalists. Meanwhile, Correctional Services Canada has refused to provide basic information about the outbreaks.
There is a lot of room for things to get worse. The Toronto Star has reported that 60 inmates at a provincial jail in Brampton have tested positive for the virus. In America, a myriad of prisons are experiencing massive outbreaks, including the notorious Rikers prison, where more than 350 inmates are sick.
Follow Justin Ling on Twitter.
“One of the inmate cleaners requested the use of a mask while he was cleaning and was flatly refused,” says the partner of one inmate incarcerated at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
Paul Gallagher, who is incarcerated at the Pacific Institution—not far from Mission, which has seen the worst outbreak in the federal system—says when it comes to officers wearing masks, “some are, some aren’t.” When asked if he had been issued personal protective equipment, he laughed. “I put in a request [for a mask] about a week ago,” he said. “I don’t expect a response.”
As of Wednesday, 193 federal inmates have tested positive for COVID-19—though fewer than 600 tests have been administered. One inmate has died, and others have been sent to provincial hospitals, although Correctional Services still refuses to provide data on the number of hospitalizations. Inmates are only being tested if they have symptoms.
The New Democratic Party has called on Ottawa to begin releasing inmates at a higher health risk, but who are deemed a lower risk to society, to lighten the burden on these institutions.
“This is not just about the prisoners,” Jack Harris, the NDP’s public safety critic, told VICE. “The guards themselves are at risk, because they're in the same situation as the prisoners, as are the communities outside these prisons.”
Harris said he has not heard from Blair or his office since they received a briefing earlier in March, when the minister insisted they were working with Correctional Services and the Parole Board of Canada to assess their options for releasing inmates.
“The main concern at this point is to raise the alarm,” Harris said. “There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency.”
Inside the Canadian Prison Hardest Hit by the Coronavirus Pandemic
One inmate has died and at least 60 have tested positive for COVID-19 at Mission Institution. We spoke to a prisoner on what conditions are like inside the federal prison.By Justin Ling Apr 21 2020
THE MISSION INSTITUTION IS PICTURED TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2020. COVID-19 HAS INFECTED SEVERAL OF THE INMATES AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS AT THE FACILITY. THE CANADIAN PRESS/JONATHAN HAYWARD
Even as the coronavirus outbreak was emerging in federal prisons, staff were being told not to wear personal protective equipment. The Canadian government only began providing masks and gloves after healthcare workers reported unsafe work conditions, despite plenty of early warning that prisons were a ticking time bomb for the spread of the virus.
And now, as of yesterday, 177 federal inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Provincial institutions have also been hard hit.
The worst outbreak in the country is at Mission Institution, a medium-security prison near Abbotsford, British Columbia, where 60 inmates have tested positive for the virus. One inmate has already died, and others are in hospital. Ten staff members have also tested positive for coronavirus.
Dillan Cote, an inmate at Mission, told VICE on Friday that, right up until the cases began to spiral out of control in the prison, the administration was failing to guard against the virus.
The inmates requested the jail take the temperature of corrections officers showing up for work, to ensure that none were unwittingly transporting the virus into the prison. “We don't get it. They refused that,” Cote said. The inmates requested that they be fed in their cells, rather than all 250 of them crowding into the cafeteria. “It was denied.”
On April 3, after they began reporting cases, Mission put the entire prison on lockdown.
“We didn't even have showers for [the first] five days of the lockdown,” Cote said. Since then, inmates have only been let out for 10 to 20 minutes at a time, sometimes every other day, to shower and make a phone call. “No exercise, no fresh air.”
“One of the guys who is sick is one of the unit cleaners,” Cote said. “And he was out the other day cleaning the unit.” Cote says their cleaning supplies are so diluted with water that he’s not even sure it’s helping.
The conditions are putting the entire prison on edge, he said.
“I feel like the whole jail is on the verge of having a freak out, or doing something,” Cote said. “Because they're treating us poorly. We're not getting fed properly. You know, it takes a toll on your mental health, for sure.”
Even since they’ve been in lockdown, the prison is not taking basic steps to prevent transmission of the virus.
“I just asked the officer today: Why aren't we getting hand sanitizer in there? They’re like: ‘Because you guys drink it,’” Cote said.
As the pandemic unfolded, and cases began to emerge in federal prisons, the Trudeau government repeatedly insisted it had the outbreak under control.
On March 13, Correctional Services Canada said that they had in place the necessary “medical responses, equipment requirements, and protocols” for an influenza outbreak. On March 23 they wrote that “employees are actively screening anyone that must enter institutions.” Two days after that they wrote that they had taken stock of their personal protective equipment and that they would “purchase additional supplies as necessary.” The same day, they wrote that they had “distributed additional soap, cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer to staff and inmates.”
VICE wrote in late March that few of those precautions were actually being implemented.
But by April 2, healthcare workers on British Columbia’s lower mainland—the area which includes MIssion—said they were not being given adequate protection. A letter to Correctional Services Canada, provided to VICE, said: “We feel that the direction for healthcare staff to not use PPE (ie gloves and mask) during the 'hands on' intake process of inmates, who are being placed in the Medical isolation Unit, creates an unsafe work environment."
While Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam says testing is key to fighting COVID-19 in prisons, just 533 inmates have been tested since the pandemic began. The federal prison population sits at about 15,000.
A new directive only went out on April 8, encouraging all staff to wear masks. Even then, the administration is “dolling [PPE] out as they see fit,” a healthcare worker says. Multiple sources inside these institutions say some corrections officers are not wearing masks.
Inmates at more than a half dozen prisons across the country have not been given masks.
Prison transfers have continued as well. An inmate from Mission was moved to another facility nearby, and later tested positive. Sherri Maier, a prison advocate, was told by inmates at other institutions in British Columbia, and as far away as Saskatchewan, that inmates from Mission are being transferred into those institutions.
“This is ridiculous, but seems to be the plan CSC has taken,” Maier said. “Rather than release guys, they transfer them.”
There are several federal prisons near Mission which, one healthcare worker says, are not preparing. “There’s no cases there, so they’ve got their heads in the sand and their fingers crossed,” they said.
Calls have mounted for Correctional Services Canada to begin releasing inmates.
Last Thursday, I requested an interview with Public Safety Minister Bill Blair. “We aren’t able to accommodate an interview today,” his office responded Friday.
While he had no time to speak to journalists, Blair spent that Friday evening on a Facebook townhall with a Liberal MP. On that call, Blair was asked about releasing inmates.
“I can tell you that 600 people have already been released just in the last month that we identified as being eligible for release,” Blair said, though he clarified Monday that most of those 600 inmates were released as part of their regular parole eligibility.
Cote is not eligible for parole for another few years. The guy in the cell next to him, however, is slated to be released in six months. “He's wondering if he can get out, because his life's in danger,” he said. Other inmates are still being sent back to prison on minor parole violations.
One offender, who was released earlier this month from a CSC-run halfway house in Toronto on a 14-day medical leave pass, was told to return to the facility this week because his pass expired. One of the offenders in the halfway house has COVID-19 symptoms, he said.
Provinces, meanwhile, have taken drastic steps to empty out jails. Ontario and the Northwest Territories have reduced their prison population by a quarter. The courts have been weighing the threat of COVID-19 heavily in deciding bail and sentencing. Government lawyers, however, are still seeking jailtime for many offenders.
For weeks, Minister Blair’s office has refused interview requests on the crisis hitting Canada’s prisons. While various members of Trudeau’s cabinet involved in the pandemic response have participated in daily media briefings, Blair has not been available to journalists. Meanwhile, Correctional Services Canada has refused to provide basic information about the outbreaks.
There is a lot of room for things to get worse. The Toronto Star has reported that 60 inmates at a provincial jail in Brampton have tested positive for the virus. In America, a myriad of prisons are experiencing massive outbreaks, including the notorious Rikers prison, where more than 350 inmates are sick.
Follow Justin Ling on Twitter.
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