In the News
November 9, 2023
Advocate says the program isn't condoning drug use, it's 'anti-overdose'
November 7, 2023
Eighty per cent of Correctional Service Canada workers deal with work-related stress due to pay and compensation-related issues
October 3, 2023
Correctional Service Canada says it has 'counter-drone' measures, but won't provide details
June 5, 2023
According to John Randle of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, 75 per cent of all contraband seizures are the result of drone drops.
October 3, 2023
The family of a Mission corrections officer fought his federal employer for compensation after he contracted COVID at work
September 3, 2022
Officers across Canada have started covering their badges with tape while working inside the prisons to send a message of discontent to their employer, Correctional Service Canada (CSC). UCCO regional president Rene Howe said it didn’t become an issue until the officers wore the tape in public while escorting prisoners for medical appointments and other duties.
March 3, 2022
Fraser Valley corrections officers who have been victims of workplace harassment say they’re better off staying silent than speaking out against an abusive boss.
November 8, 2021
“These radars will facilitate more efficient detection of drones overflying the penitentiaries, which would be a step in the right direction,” Frédérick Lebeau, president of UCCO-SACC–CSN for the region of Quebec, said in a press release issued by the union.
May 8, 2021
«Ces radars vont permettre une détection plus efficace des drones survolant les pénitenciers, ce qui est un pas dans la bonne direction», de préciser Frédérick Lebeau, président de la région du Québec pour UCCO-SACC–CSN
October 3, 2023
« Durant la COVID, il n’y avait pas de visiteurs autorisés, mais on faisait quand même des saisies », a expliqué Frédérick Lebeau, président de la région du Québec au Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada-CSN. « Il faut que ça vienne de quelque part », a-t-il ajouté.
October 3, 2023
«C'est un enjeu de sécurité publique. Des pénitenciers en milieu urbain, il y en a beaucoup. On ne veut pas qu'il arrive d'incidents malheureux. Si on se fait livrer une arme à feu en établissement et qu'on est victime d'une évasion, ça peut être la sécurité du public qui est en danger»
October 3, 2023
«On a quand même une augmentation qui est là, c’est de plus en plus la mode que les détenus s’en servent pour l’introduction de stupéfiants et de contrebande», a souligné Yan Garneau, agent correctionnel au pénitencier de Donnacona. Armes blanches, cellulaires, stupéfiants, les objets livrés aux détenus sont nombreux, mais les outils pour les stopper ne le sont pas, croit Frédérick Lebeau, porte-parole du syndicat pour la région de Québec.
October 3, 2023
Les détenus ont trouvé comment enlever les fenêtres de leur mastic et enlever toute la structure de la fenêtre. On a des livraisons qui se font directement à la cellule. Même Uber Eats n’est pas capable de faire ça, lance Frédérick Lebeau.
October 3, 2023
«Il y a un enjeu majeur, un problème de livraison à l’intérieur de nos pénitenciers. C’est trop facile. Il faut que ça devienne plus difficile», dénonce Frédérick Lebeau, président du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada pour la région de Québec.
April 6, 2021
« Le moral est vraiment bas. Comme dans la population, il y a une fatigue COVID qui s’installe et qui est exacerbée par l’écosystème explosif dans lequel vit. Il y a des agents qui ont travaillé très fort depuis le début. À Laval, on a perdu presque les trois quarts de nos employés tellement c’était difficile », lâche le président québécois du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada (SACC-CSN), Frédérick Lebeau.
October 3, 2023
Le nombre d’heures que les détenus passent en dehors de leurs cellules a été considérablement réduit, explique le président régional du Syndicat des agents correctionnels canadiens pour les Prairies, James Bloomfield. Il ajoute que certaines activités comme regarder la télévision sont désormais limitées aux cellules, mais que les pratiques peuvent néanmoins différer d’un établissement à l’autre, selon l’état de la situation.
October 3, 2023
James Bloomfield with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said he had hoped guards would be vaccinated at the same time as inmates, just as staff in long-term care homes were vaccinated along with residents.
April 5, 2021
Jeff Wilkins, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said his members in the federal system “are threatened with violence, or in fact assaulted verbally or physically,” every day.
October 3, 2023
Et pour illustrer le risque engendré par ce transfert, le président du conseil syndical de la région du Québec, Frédérick Lebeau, a raconté que la veille de son opération de changement de sexe, Jamie Boulachanis était escortée de six agents armés, ainsi que de policiers. « Le lendemain, puisqu’elle était devenue une femme, les agents étaient moins nombreux et non armés. »
December 3, 2021
"It starts to get tense when you're locked-down for close to a year now in different forms and this takes that to another level," James Bloomfield with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said. "The true reality is that it is very tense." But Bloomfield says he believes living standards are still being tended to. "We will do our best to maintain that level of care for everybody in the facility. That does not drop, but what does drop is the level of movement ability."
August 3, 2021
However, Robert Finucan said there has been an issue with a small group of inmates who are "very problematic." "They take a lot of time and energy to deal with them. We've been asking, as a union, for a … unit where the problematic women from this sector can go and be managed better," said Finucan.
August 3, 2021
The sentiment was echoed by Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, who said the union condemns any form of harassment or assault by its members.
May 2, 2021
"They've left out the frontline portion of corrections, which is the correctional officers in this. We are within these facilities every day, working frontline every day and working 24-7 with positive cases all over the place," Bloomfield told CTV News.
October 3, 2023
Derek Chin, President of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers for the Pacific Region says ongoing visits undermine efforts to keep COVID-19 out of the prison. “We’ve been questioning a lot of the decisions made on continuing on with visits when the B.C. health orders are applicable for all of the province. And we still struggle to find out the rationale for why the visits are still occurring, and why it’s only happening on the Island,” he says.
October 3, 2023
”It’s completely foolish,” said national president Jeff Wilkins. “We have (Saskatchewan Penitentiary), for example, which has seen quite an extensive outbreak. Our members are getting burnt out.”
October 3, 2023
“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.
October 3, 2023
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.
December 1, 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.
August 1, 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.
July 1, 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."
July 1, 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.
June 1, 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).
June 1, 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.
June 1, 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.
June 1, 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.
June 1, 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.
June 1, 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.
June 1, 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."
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.”
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
“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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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 3, 2023
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.
September 10, 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. »
January 10, 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.
October 3, 2023
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».
October 3, 2023
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers confirmed at the time the officer's throat had been slashed with an edged weapon.
October 3, 2023
“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.
October 3, 2023
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.
July 6, 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.
October 5, 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).
October 3, 2023
“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.”
October 3, 2023
"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."
October 3, 2023
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."
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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."
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
May 2, 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.
April 2, 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.
April 2, 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.
March 2, 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.
March 2, 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.”
October 3, 2023
“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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
"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
October 3, 2023
Finucan said the officer suffered facial injuries, and has been off work since the attack while he receives medical attention.
October 3, 2023
“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.”
October 3, 2023
«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 3, 2023
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
October 6, 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.
September 6, 2019
The message is clear: needles need to be removed from prison cells and the exisiting program must come to an end, said Wilkins.
September 6, 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.
September 6, 2019
Harm reduction facility in Drumheller, Alta. penitentiary could open as soon as end of this month
July 6, 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.
July 6, 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.
January 6, 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.”
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
Internal workplace reports at Springhill Institution, Nova Institution for Women describe staff concerns
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 5, 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.
September 5, 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.
July 5, 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.
July 5, 2019
Le Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada tient mordicus à ce que les seringues ne se retrouvent pas dans les cellules des détenus.
April 5, 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.
January 5, 2019
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers pushes for supervised consumption sites in prisons
October 3, 2023
The union representing correctional officers is raising concerns about the number of staff suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
Correctional Officers marched outside Bill Casey's office in Truro
August 4, 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.
July 4, 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.
June 4, 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.
June 4, 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.
June 4, 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.
June 4, 2019
A judge determined there’s not enough evidence to send two prison guards to trial in Hines's death
May 4, 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.
May 4, 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.
May 4, 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.
May 4, 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.
October 3, 2023
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.
October 3, 2023
John Lambiris knows how much important STARS air ambulance is
August 2, 2019