Confinement in Quebec prisons after an attack on a guard

Correctional officers in Quebec prisons refused to open the cells of inmates in their custody at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, as they usually do. It was a gesture of solidarity after an attack on one of their colleagues on Sunday in the Sorel-Tracy detention facility.

The cells were still locked at the end of the morning, according to our information.

The agent, who was alone with the prisoner during the attack, is in critical condition and has been placed in an artificial coma. He suffered a fractured skull and may lose his sight.

The attacker, a 39-year-old man, was transferred to the Montreal Detention Establishment, commonly known as the Bordeaux prison, where he was questioned by investigators from the Sûreté du Québec.

The investigation continues into this case.

According to our information, the man has a history of mental health problems and schizophrenia. In the past, he allegedly attacked an 82-year-old woman in Granby, in Estrie. He is due back in court in February 2025 for assault charges that occurred in March 2024.

Working conditions denounced

These pressure tactics also aimed to denounce the difficult working conditions of correctional officers in the province. Quebec is grappling with problems of overcrowding in prisons and a lack of manpower to respond.

The shortage of correctional service officers increases their workload and increases their feeling of insecurity, because they have to work in small teams in certain sectors of Quebec detention centers. They also denounce the obligation to work overtime.

We have been experiencing the tension and pressure for months. We challenge the ministry about what we experience inside the walls every day and the ministry turns a deaf ear to our problems.declared the president of the Union of Peace Officers of Correctional Services, Mathieu Lavoie, in an interview on the show Isabelle Richer.

It’s a real powder keg in detention right now and that’s why we’re demanding that security come before activities.

We always warned [le ministère de la Sécurité publique] : “Don’t wait for him to [se passe quelque chose]because we are going to hold you responsible for it.” And today, unfortunately, we are faced with thisdenounced Mathieu Lavoie.

Especially since this type of aggression risks discouraging potential recruits from making the leap into this profession, noted Mr. Lavoie, which will fuel the shortage of personnel in this sector of activity.

I can understand their dismay. My first thoughts are with the correctional officer, his family […] and to all the correctional officers in Quebec who do a really not easy job day after day in detention centersdeclared Quebec Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, at a press conference. He refrained from commenting directly on the situation before having the results of the police and administrative investigations.

The pandemic, according to the minister, has made staff shortages and the recruitment of new agents very problematic.

We still have work to do to be able to fill all correctional officer positions throughout Quebec, but it is a fight that we have started and that we will win.

Mr. Bonnardel went to meet the staff of the Sorel-Tracy detention facility Tuesday afternoon, to go and give him [son] support.

Prison and mental health problems

Questioned by Isabelle Richer on the place in detention of people with mental health problems, Mr. Lavoie estimated that there were resources to give to detention establishments which do not currently exist for this type of prison clientele.

The decision to place these people in a detention center is taken by the justice system, he recalled, adding that interventions with clients with mental health problems are very little present in their training curriculum. .

We are currently in a context of staff shortage which means that we want to train agents as quickly as possible to put them on the floor and we have serious discussions to have with those opposite us when we see this what is happening in our establishments, when we see the attacks and when we see the exhaustion of staffindicated the president of the Correctional Services Peace Officers Union.

With information from Pascal Robidas