Port-Cartier Prison: Evacuation was risky according to the union

The evacuation of 223 inmates from the maximum security penitentiary in Port-Cartier has been described as “historic” by the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, which nevertheless denounced several shortcomings. While the union’s regional president claims that a lack of equipment would have “called into question” the safety of staff, the penitentiary director believes that the operation was “prepared” and carried out according to the rules.

On the morning of June 21, an operational scramble was initiated after the SOPFEU and Quebec Public Security reported that the penitentiary was located in territory threatened by forest fires. The evacuation will have to be done quickly, since the blaze is getting closer to Port-Cartier and is only 11 km from the establishment.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) is therefore preparing to implement its contingency plan. While 1,000 residents of Port-Cartier have already left their neighbourhood, SCC and more than 70 agents are moving 223 inmates, many with maximum security classifications, to other federal institutions located several hundred kilometers away on Saturday.

In the last few weeks, we had already prepared our entire contingency plan in connection with the evaluation [des feux]. We were readysays Martin Foucher, the general director of the Port-Cartier penitentiary, on the show Hello Coast.

For its part, the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers does not have the same interpretation. There are emergency plans that exist in penitentiaries. But were we ready to do a complete evacuation of an establishment like that? I would say no.supports the regional president of the union, Mike Bolduc.

In his eyes, the lack of equipment would have questioned staff safetyhe said. The plan is there on paper, but in practice, they are two different things, he also said at the microphone of Hello Coast.

In an interview on ICI Première, the union representative revealed that several of these detainees were tied with tie wrap (ties self-locking), since the correctional officers did not have enough handcuffs and foot chains to completely immobilize them during the transfer.

A mistake according to Mike Bolduc who made a point of recalling that detainees who were part of the convoy had a maximum security code.

In my opinion, regardless of the threat and risk assessment, prisoners [à côte de sécurité] maximum should have been handcuffed at all times to ensure everyone’s safety. They should learn from this mistake and have equipment for each inmate, especially in remote areas.

The director general of the Port-Cartier penitentiary, Michel Foucher, maintains that the use of self-locking ties is a method of constraint. authorized and normal, which is also used by other correctional services.

The director admits, however, that It is obvious that we did not have all the resources for them [menotter] at the feet, rather emphasizing that the vans were equipped with individual cells to isolate detainees. The union representative in turn replies that only some of the vehicles used were equipped with individual cells.

Finally, according to Mike Bolduc, some of the inmates managed to break their self-locking ties during their transfer to the Donnacona and Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines penitentiaries. To these allegations, Martin Foucher responds that he does not no information that supports these statements.

Transport vehicles obsolete for the transfer of prisoners

On Saturday evening, 24 hours after the start of the operation, the first convoys of prison vans, coming from the Port-Cartier penitentiary, finally crossed the perimeter of the maximum security penitentiary in Donnacona, in the Quebec region.

The long journey would have taken place without major obstacles according to the union, but the regional president claims that the agents would have had to deal with vehicles in a pitiful state Who heatedexplains Mike Bolduc.

The correctional officer teams would also have seen their authorization to use their flashing lights withdrawn, a few months earlier, by Correctional Service Canada.

The employer said there would no longer be an emergency situation in the performance of our duties. We just proved to him that we have it [vécue]the emergency situation.

On one occasion, the absence of rotating lights on the correctional officers’ vehicles caused a dangerous situation during a passing maneuver. A heavy truck would have brushed against the vans, forcing them to take evasive maneuvers due to their lack of visibility, according to the regional president of the union.

For his part, the director of the penitentiary maintains that the convoys, at all times, respected [les] standards and policies in effect in terms of number of correctional officers versus number of inmates.

The convoys of correctional services vans were also escorted and supported by teams from the Sûreté du Québec and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which helped ensure the security of the convoys, according to Martin Foucher. The operation was very safehe said.

The prison director remotely during the evacuation

Asked whether he was on site in Port-Cartier to manage the emergency evacuation, Martin Foucher conceded that he was on the move Thursday evening, the day before the evacuation of the penitentiary and that he was in the suburbs. from Montreal, to manage operations remotely.

Despite the physical distance that separated him from the crisis, the director affirms that the management was the same and The result of the management of the situation clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of our crisis management.

Sometimes we keep an emotional distance from the situation. I consider that it went well.he concluded.