In the News
January 20, 2021
“It feels like we’ve been singled out in the dark with no information, waiting to find out when we are getting access to the vaccine and told sorry about not being close to your family, that’s just not gonna happen,” DeBack said.
January 13, 2021
Ryan DeBack, regional vice-president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said staff originally received the order on Dec. 22 and it’s been extended until Jan. 19. Some members haven’t seen their children in almost a month, he said.
January 12, 2021
“Our main support networks are our family, and our friends and our community and we’ve been told since Dec. 22 … we’re not even allowed to have contact with our families,” Ryan DeBack, Vice President, Prairies Region.
January 8, 2021
Mario Guillemette, du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada, soutient que ce sont ses membres qui devraient être immunisés en premier et le plus rapidement possible. Il estime que ce procédé aurait pour effet d’empêcher les éclosions de COVID-19 dans les prisons canadiennes.
January 7, 2021
"We have many members across this country working in very precarious institutions that have been identified as pandemic sites," said Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. "We're going to run into some serious issues."
January 7, 2021
“We need the vaccine for our members so we can get more people back in the workplace, but our members are very tired right now,” said Rob Finucan, Ontario regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
January 6, 2021
Starting Friday, hundreds of federal inmates will begin to receive COVID-19 vaccines as part of a pilot project, according to the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO).
January 6, 2021
A union representing federal prison guards says vaccinating them against COVID-19 should be a priority, given their front-line role in correctional institutions. Members should be inoculated at their workplaces as quickly as possible, said Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
January 6, 2021
«C’est nous, les vecteurs», fait valoir Mario Guillemette, qui représente les agents correctionnels au Québec. Le Service correctionnel canadien a pour mandat de protéger les détenus tout comme ses employés, selon M. Guillemette, et l’employeur «remplirait ses deux objectifs» s’il vaccinait d’abord ses agents.
January 6, 2021
It did say that sick and elderly inmates will be prioritized, following the federal government’s recommendations for who should be the first recipients of the vaccine. The union added prison officers and employees will have to wait for before they are vaccinated, but would not say Tuesday how long that wait will be.
January 6, 2021
Mario Guillemette, du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada, soutient quant à lui que ses membres devraient être considérés comme des travailleurs de première ligne.
January 6, 2021
Le syndicat des agents correctionnels ne s’insurge pas contre la vaccination de ces détenus, mais demande que ses membres soient aussi considérés comme des candidats prioritaires au vaccin.
January 6, 2021
Les agentes et les agents correctionnels doivent se faire offrir le vaccin dans les meilleurs délais.
January 6, 2021
Selon le président du syndicat, Mario Guillemette, le fait de vacciner les agents correctionnels en priorité aurait pour effet d’empêcher les éclosions de COVID-19 dans les prisons, où l’on a recensé 1146 cas et trois morts parmi les détenus sur une population carcérale totale d’environ 13 000 personnes.
January 6, 2021
Lors de la première vague, Mario Guilmette rappelle que trois pénitenciers du Québec ont été aux prises avec une éclosion; Port-Cartier, Joliette et le Centre fédéral de formation à Laval. «On ne veut pas revivre ça», assure-t-il. «On veut être vacciné», réitère M. Guillemette.
January 1, 2021
"When it comes into the facility at that point, we are just trying to rapid test as fast as possible," said Bloomfield. "We do have all that within the facility, so we can get the results back in half an hour, and we isolate and test everybody."
December 24, 2020
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said that one of the main reasons case numbers have climbed so quickly is that staff are now doing rapid, asymptomatic testing within the prison population. "Instead of waiting three or four days, and not knowing who is or who isn't positive, we end up being able to pick out all of the asymptomatic out of an entire population fairly quickly — within a couple of days — depending on how fast we test both populations," he said.
December 23, 2020
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers regional president James Bloomfield said the focus now is ensuring the rest of the facility can remain free from the virus. “It’s a reality of how this system works with the amount of movement from provincial to federal (facilities) and the number of people involved,” he said.
December 22, 2020
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said there are upwards of 70 staff and inmates who have tested positive.
December 22, 2020
While some inmates believe staff don’t care and would rather the institution lockdown, Bloomfield says that’s not the case. “Everybody is doing their best and I don’t believe there is malice,” Bloomfield said. “No matter how many bad mistakes have been made along the way. In this situation, we, fortunately, haven’t had any big mistakes. We’ve got everything under control the best we can right now. We don’t have other options here.”
December 21, 2020
James Bloomfield, president of the Prairies region for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers told paNOW stress is already really high among staff who are dealing with testing and strict containment procedures minimizing movement. “The stress is through the roof and it’s really starting to wear on everybody. The only relief you’ve got is your family when you go home and they get told they can’t even do that,” Bloomfield said.
December 20, 2020
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said there are roughly 64 cases in inmates and one in a staff member. He notes one of the main reasons cases have climbed so quickly is because staff are now doing rapid, asymptomatic testing within the prison population. Now, with test results coming back within 30 minutes, he says it's been a big help.
November 29, 2020
Rob Finucan, union president for Ontario, said the union would like in-person visits with inmates to be suspended, including at Warkworth Institution medium-security federal prison, southeast of Peterborough.
November 27, 2020
“CSC said they are following public health guidelines, they’re saying they can manage the risk, but we think it’s too serious a risk,” Rob Finucan, Ontario president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said in an interview on Friday.
November 19, 2020
The union that represents prison guards at Mission Institution in B.C.'s Fraser Valley says it fears a second COVID-19 outbreak at the facility will be mismanaged by the Correctional Service of Canada.
November 19, 2020
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers “denounces” the decision not to hire an outside firm to immediately deep clean the facility in which a spring outbreak spread to 120 prisoners, and killed one.
October 28, 2020
The union representing federal prison staff says the Correctional Service of Canada needs to expand its number of specialized units for difficult prisoners to ensure it meets legal and safety obligations to staff and inmates.
October 9, 2020
De façon générale, M. Lebeau parle d’un climat extrêmement anxiogène dans les prisons en cette pandémie, le stress étant aussi bien du côté des personnes incarcérées que de leurs gardiens. Et il y a la fatigue, aussi. « À un moment donné, à Port-Cartier, 75 % des effectifs étaient en quarantaine. C’est dire à quel point leurs collègues toujours en poste ont dû faire des heures supplémentaires. »
October 1, 2020
Chin said guards at Mission Institution had staffing issues prior to the outbreak, but problems have been compounded by work related injuries, certain ailments among immunocompromised staff, summer leaves and “tired,” overworked members.
August 26, 2020
Bien que cette saisie soit une bonne nouvelle, le syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada (UCCO-SACC-CSN) indique que les drones restent «un véritable fléau» à Donnacona et que l’équipement utilisé fait une partie du travail, mais qu’il «est loin d’être optimal».
August 20, 2020
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers confirmed at the time the officer's throat had been slashed with an edged weapon.
June 23, 2020
“For us employees, we are always accountable for our actions and decisions. Managers should be held at the same standard, if not higher because they’re the final decision-makers,” said Derek Chin, regional pacific president for the union.
June 19, 2020
Wilkins said he agrees that as communities begin to reopen, so too should federal prisons. He said the union is part of a 'Shaping the New Normal' advisory group that is working on a safe reopening strategy.
June 7, 2020
M. Wilkins rapporte qu’au début de la pandémie, Service correctionnel Canada a dissuadé les agents de porter de l’équipement de protection. Maintenant, ils s’exposent à des sanctions s’ils ne portent pas ce même équipement.
May 10, 2020
When some staff brought their own masks to work, they say they were prevented from wearing them. Staff reported management was worried the masks could scare inmates, said Derek Chin, regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
May 5, 2020
Dix agents correctionnels ont également été infectés. « Ces temps-ci, on travaille beaucoup sur l’anxiété de nos membres », témoigne Frédérick Lebeau, président régional pour le Québec du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada (UCCO-SACC-CSN).
April 30, 2020
“I don’t think Mission’s management had a handle on when it began … [They] downplayed the officers’ concerns,” Chin said. “When they got the first inmate’s positive [test], they started contacting staff – three to four days later – to do tracing about who they could’ve been in contact with.”
April 25, 2020
"There's no quarantine unit -- there's infected people in every single living unit," Wilkins said. "It's gotten to the point where we're not even being told who has the virus and who doesn't, so it's not a good situation."
April 25, 2020
The union leader does make a distinction between solitary confinement and medical isolation. "It's not a punishment. It's not a penalty," Wilkins said. "This is for everybody's safety."
April 24, 2020
The union representing federal correctional officers is asking they all be tested for COVID-19, regardless if they show symptoms, to verify if they’re infected “or more importantly if they’re not,” said Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
April 23, 2020
In a statement Thursday, the union representing guards said the prison system had been unprepared for the emerging pandemic and slow to react. “A reactive and slow response only endangers staff, inmates and the general public,” said Jeff Wilkins, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
April 23, 2020
Wilkins says the outbreak there shows a lack of planning. "There should have been planning done to have areas of the institution that were readily available to quarantine a significant number of inmates away from another."
April 22, 2020
Jeff Wilkins of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers is telling a House of Commons committee that broader testing would identify employees who do not have the virus, ensuring they can continue to work. Wilkins says correctional officers have been sent home for 14 days after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.
April 13, 2020
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO) says more safety measures, like masks and restricting movement, need to be in place as possible to ensure the safety of 155 correctional officers and the inmate population at Mission Institution, which has a capacity for 216 inmates.
February 5, 2020
The union is asking Albertans to contact government representatives about the issue. "Officers need to be supported," said Bloomfield. "We keep everybody else safe, we're asking for the community to help keep us safe now.
February 4, 2020
What this “Program” does is allow for every Offender at Warkworth (near 570) to apply for a hypodermic needle to be stored in his cell to use illegal drugs like heroin, various opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil, prescription medications, and other substances such as industrial cleaners.
February 4, 2020
Bloomfield, though, pointed to an alternative program in place at the Drumheller Institution, which he argued is safer and more effective in limiting overdoses. Like supervised consumption sites, such as the one at Calgary’s Sheldon M. Chumir Centre, the Drumheller program allows inmates to inject drugs under the supervision of trained nurses in a designated location within the prison’s health-care unit.
February 3, 2020
So once people have been called out for their crimes, and put behind bars to signal society’s objection to their behaviour, and to send a message to others, the agency’s answer is to ensure inmates can safely continue with their worrisome drug use. It doesn’t make sense.
February 3, 2020
“The overall risk to the inmate is [also] dramatically increased in comparison to the harm reduction methods being employed in overdose prevention sites (OPS), an alternative that CSC has gone with before,” says James Bloomfield, Prairies regional president. “The risk to all staff and inmates is only increased when needles intended for injecting illegal drugs are in the cells.”
January 31, 2020
“It’s a much more controlled program and safer for everybody involved,” Bloomfield said of the program, which has been around more than six months. “It’s been well-accepted by the inmate populations and it keeps the danger of having that needle and that inmate curling up in a corner out of the cells.” Bloomfield said he “can’t understand why” the federal government isn’t on board with the alternative model.
January 26, 2020
We’re losing touch with what the Correctional Service is. It’s about corrections, it means correcting behaviour. But then you also have to look at victims rights as well. These guys have committed crimes to end up in here. It’s very clear the pendulum is swinging to far the other way.
January 26, 2020
Le syndicat national demande maintenant des investissements de la part de Service correctionnel Canada (SCC) pour que des mesures soient prises afin d'empêcher l’utilisation de drones près des établissements carcéraux.
January 23, 2020
"It is becoming a more challenging and dangerous work environment for correctional officers as there appears to be a correlation between an increase in perceived unrealistic correctional officer accountability and responsibility and a decrease in offender accountability and responsibility," Essex stated
January 23, 2020
Rob Finucan, the Ontario president for UCCO based in Kingston, said the attacks by inmates on officers are due to the offenders feeling they won’t be punished as severely as before. “Our concerns are inmate accountability,” Finucan said in an interview. “I’m seeing across the country there’s no accountability for their actions.
January 21, 2020
Finucan said the officer suffered facial injuries, and has been off work since the attack while he receives medical attention.
January 21, 2020
“It is becoming a more challenging and dangerous work environment for Correctional Officers as there appears to be a correlation between an increase in perceived unrealistic Correctional Officer Accountability and Responsibility and a decrease in Offender Accountability and Responsibility.”
January 15, 2020
«C’est pas tant que les installations sont désuètes, c’est que les normes de construction ne sont pas adaptées, a affirmé le président du syndicat. La solution: il faut améliorer ces normes et faire des rénovations.»
October 19, 2019
They say if the prison service wants to continue distributing needles, then the injection site, known as an overdose prevention service, should be the model
September 23, 2019
The union representing Canada’s correctional officers is calling for better communication between prison management and staff at Kent Institution after a mental health survey found it to be a “highly dysfunctional and unhealthy” workplace.
June 10, 2019
While the pilot program is being praised by medical and drug policy experts as a positive measure to curb rising overdoses behind bars, correctional officers are wary of being forced to acknowledge — and even accept — that illicit drugs are being consumed on their watch.
June 9, 2019
The message is clear: needles need to be removed from prison cells and the exisiting program must come to an end, said Wilkins.
June 9, 2019
Le pénitencier de Drumheller, dans le sud de l'Alberta, s’apprête à ouvrir un centre d’injection supervisé à l’intérieur même de ses murs, selon le syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada.
June 9, 2019
Harm reduction facility in Drumheller, Alta. penitentiary could open as soon as end of this month
June 9, 2019
The union that represents workers inside federal penitentiaries has been sounding the alarm about drones and illegal drugs entering prisons for years.
June 8, 2019
“The correctional officers are dead set against the prison needle-exchange and the current way it’s being rolled out,” Wilkins told the Post in a Thursday interview, saying officers are concerned about their safety.
June 7, 2019
En place depuis l’an dernier, le Programme d'échange de seringues en prison fait toujours l’objet de contestations de la part des agentes et agents correctionnels du Canada. Ils transporteront une seringue géante dans les rues d’Ottawa, leur façon de réitérer une demande de longue date faite au gouvernement, celle de trouver une solution qui ne mette pas à risque leur sécurité.
June 7, 2019
To help addicts in prison, the Trudeau government is supplying them with clean syringes — but the federal prison guards' union says that's a serious risk to its members.
June 1, 2019
But it’s not only advocates and inmates that are apprehensive of the proposed changes — it’s also the prison guards. Jason Godin is the national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, which represents over 7,300 members working in federal institutions across the country. “Administrative segregation for us is always a last resort,” Godin says. “I’ve been in the service long enough to know, I’ve worked in segregation units, that’s the last thing we want to do.”
May 24, 2019
Des gardiennes de prison et des détenues mentionnent avoir peur depuis que les prisonnières qui veulent se droguer peuvent demander une seringue propre pour s’injecter dans leur cellule puis la conserver.
May 21, 2019
Internal workplace reports at Springhill Institution, Nova Institution for Women describe staff concerns
May 16, 2019
Jason Godin, the now former national president and founding member of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers representing more than 7,300 federal correctional officers across Canada, has passed the baton to a new leader.
May 14, 2019
Les délégués du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada affilié à la CSN ont voté en faveur de l'entente de principe survenue avec le Conseil du Trésor visant à dédommager les travailleurs de la fonction publique, dont les agents correctionnels, à cause des problèmes causés par le système de paie Phénix.
May 10, 2019
An allegation that guards at Warkworth Institution recently encouraged inmates to take enough fentanyl to drop and earn "toe tag parole" was a "slap in the face," says the president of the union for correctional officers there.
May 9, 2019
The prairie regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers who works at Stony Mountain, James Bloomfield, told CBC News inmates and their contacts are using drones to bring things like drugs, cell phones and weapons into prisons.
May 7, 2019
«On dit que la drogue est illégale, mais on donne l'outil pour s'injecter, c'est un non-sens, on ne comprend pas où va le gouvernement», dénonce Frédérick Lebeau du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada.
May 7, 2019
Le Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada tient mordicus à ce que les seringues ne se retrouvent pas dans les cellules des détenus.
May 6, 2019
Le Service correctionnel du Canada (SCC) veut faire l’acquisition de systèmes de détection des intrusions aériennes et terrestres (AGIDS, pour Air and Ground integrated Intrusion Detection Systems) pour six de ses établissements, dont les pénitenciers de Donnacona et de Cowansville.
May 4, 2019
Des centaines de criminels québécois se déclarent autochtones dès leur admission au pénitencier, ce qui leur permet de bénéficier de certains avantages, comme des visites contacts plus fréquentes avec leur conjointe et une réévaluation plus rapide de leur cote de sécurité.
May 1, 2019
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers pushes for supervised consumption sites in prisons
April 29, 2019
The union representing correctional officers is raising concerns about the number of staff suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
April 24, 2019
A union representing prison officers is raising concerns about changes to segregation in Canadian prisons after five inmate homicides at Stony Mountain Institution in 16 months.
April 15, 2019
Correctional Officers marched outside Bill Casey's office in Truro
April 8, 2019
A former representative for prisoners at Stony Mountain Institution has been sentenced to 10.5 years for selling one of the most toxic opioids within prison walls.
April 7, 2019
Près de 40 surdoses sont survenues en trois mois au pénitencier de Donnacona. Face à cette problématique, les agents correctionnels demandent plus de ressources pour lutter contre la crise des opioïdes.
April 6, 2019
Les agents correctionnels du pénitencier de Donnacona doivent gérer une situation préoccupante: en seulement trois mois, entre septembre et décembre 2018, ils ont été témoins de 37 surdoses chez les détenus.
April 6, 2019
Correctional officers at the Donnacona Institution, a federal penitentiary 30 kilometres west of Quebec City, are raising the alarm after witnessing a wave of fentanyl and carfentanyl overdoses.
April 6, 2019
Les agents correctionnels du pénitencier de Donnacona ont eu à gérer une série de surdoses sans précédent l'automne dernier. Ils réclament davantage d'outils pour faire face à la crise des opioïdes et aux livraisons par drones.
April 6, 2019
A judge determined there’s not enough evidence to send two prison guards to trial in Hines's death
April 5, 2019
The family of a Cape Breton man who died while an inmate in a federal prison in New Brunswick is asking that the province’s Attorney General direct that two corrections officers be sent to trial.
April 5, 2019
Près de quatre ans après la mort du détenu néo-écossais Matthew Hines au pénitencier de Dorchester, au Nouveau-Brunswick, toutes les accusations portées contre deux agents correctionnels sont abandonnées.
April 5, 2019
A judge has dismissed charges against two correctional officers in the death of an inmate who was pepper-sprayed inside New Brunswick's Dorchester Penitentiary.
April 5, 2019
After hearing four days of evidence in the fall, Judge Ronald LeBlanc discharged Ross and Bourgoin on Friday, concluding the force they used was reasonable and necessary and did not rise to the level of a crime.
March 28, 2019
Canada’s prisoner service is considering opening overdose prevention sites as it expands a needle-exchange program that is now offered at a fifth institution for offenders who inject smuggled drugs.
March 23, 2019
John Lambiris knows how much important STARS air ambulance is
February 8, 2019
An increase in reported inmate-on-staff violence in Ontario’s correctional institutions has led to the release of a report by the province’s independent corrections adviser in December 2018, offering 42 recommendations aimed at making jails safer. But correctional violence is not unique to Ontario...
January 25, 2019
Aucune date n’a encore été arrêtée pour le déploiement du controversé programme d’échange de seringues dans les pénitenciers québécois...
January 18, 2019
A 29-year veteran of Correctional Service Canada (CSC), Reynolds has been a vocal advocate for better mental health support for officiers and staff for years...
January 7, 2019
La miniaturisation des téléphones cellulaires empêche le gouvernement fédéral de lutter efficacement contre le crime organisé dans les établissements carcéraux...
December 29, 2018
Le pénitencier fédéral de Donnacona a été ciblé par au moins deux livraisons par drone...
December 20, 2018
Two Dorchester Penitentiary guards will have to wait until April 5 to find out whether they'll go to trial on criminal charges related to the death of inmate Matthew Hines...
December 6, 2018
The union that represents corrections officers at Stony Mountain Institution says its members are at risk due to the latest trick inmates are using to get contraband into the prison...
December 5, 2018
Inmates at Stony Mountain Institution are taking to the air in their efforts to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the federal penitentiary, prison officials say...
December 4, 2018
After meeting with Ralph Goodale, the federal minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and hearing comments made by the minister at a Public Safety committee meeting last week...
December 3, 2018
On Friday afternoon, visitors to the Newcastle Farmer’s market had the opportunity to talk to Correctional Officers from the Atlantic institution in Renous...
November 28, 2018
New legislation put forward in Ottawa would pave the way for body scanners to be used in federal penitentiaries, something the local union president says is “an absolute need” to keep the flow of drugs out...
November 28, 2018
An inmate’s death early Saturday in the medium-security unit at Collins Bay Institution was caused by an apparent drug overdose...
November 27, 2018
Prison needle-exchange programs that guards say will endanger their health and safety could get another look with an eye to changes, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale signalled Tuesday...
November 27, 2018
An unexpected delay has pushed back closing arguments in a preliminary inquiry for two Dorchester Penitentiary guards charged in the death of Matthew Hines...
November 26, 2018
Près de 300 agents correctionnels ont manifesté, le 22 novembre, devant les bureaux du Service correctionnel du Canada...
November 20, 2018
A Correctional Service Canada inmate is facing nine charges from Kingston Police, and the Kingston General Hospital emergency department...
November 17, 2019
L’importante saisie d’héroïne réalisée au pénitencier de Cowansville mardi est jugée « inquiétante » par le Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada...
November 5, 2018
Being told they will have to give inmates who use drugs clean needles beginning next year isn't the only thing that's bothering correctional officers these days...
November 2, 2018
Correctional workers from across Saskatchewan were in Regina Friday protesting a needle exchange program...
November 2, 2018
Le Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada a manifesté à Regina et à Moncton contre le programme d'échange de seringues en prison...
November 2, 2018