At the Montreal Detention Establishment, known as the Bordeaux prison, visits from relatives on weekends have never resumed since March 2020. The lack of staff also leads to the cancellation of many outings to outside for prisoners, who are increasingly confined to their cells. And this, at a time when the number of deaths “of undetermined cause” in Quebec detention centers represents more than a quarter of all deaths.
Even during the week, in several Quebec prisons, visits from relatives are also frequently canceled, often at the last minute.
The growing isolation of prisoners is denounced from all sides – including by the Public Protector, who speaks of “violated rights” of prisoners, in several respects.
Sophie Maury, director of Relais-Famille – an organization which supports relatives of people in the criminal justice system – explains that it is the cross and the banner for loved ones.
At the Rivière-des-Prairies prison, it does not answer the number that relatives must call to register and obtain a visit, she emphasizes. At that of Sorel, it is also impossible to get the line.
And when a visit is finally scheduled and authorized, it is then frequently canceled. It happens that the behavior of the inmate is to blame, but very often, the reason lies more in the lack of staff, says Sophie Maury.
“Some families drive two hours, some have had to take a day off, in vain: when everything is canceled at the last minute, the whole cumbersome process has to be restarted. »
At the Orsainville prison in Quebec, families go for weeks without news of their incarcerated loved ones “because of broken phones,” also notes M.me Maury.
The Ministry of Public Security confirmed to The Press that at Bordeaux prison, visits have been suspended since mid-March 2020, on weekends.
“The situation is reassessed periodically and time slots for visits and video visits will be offered as soon as possible,” argues Public Security by email.
“Major importance”
In its latest annual report, the Public Protector denounced the cancellations of visits to the visiting room and visits via mobile application. “It is well known that maintaining contact with loved ones is of major importance for incarcerated people,” we can read.
Cancellation cases “penalize incarcerated people as much as their loved ones, including children,” we can read.
And that’s without mentioning the outings outside in the courtyard, which are often shortened or canceled for inmates.
Lack of staff means that inmates are often confined to their cells 23 hours a day.
Me Gary Martin, criminal lawyer
” But who cares ? », asks Me Gary Martin, however, stressing that the way we treat prisoners “is a reflection of society”.
The Public Protector also denounced this. “Unless there are exceptions, everyone should be allowed a daily minimum of two hours outside their cell. However, the Public Protector noted that people were kept in their cells for more than 24 hours, sometimes up to 36 hours at a time. »
Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Union of Peace Officers in Correctional Services of Quebec (SAPSCQ-CSN), explains that according to his calculations, Quebec is missing some 300 peace officers, a situation caused in part by the approximately 200 current leaves linked to work accidents.
An “opacity of correctional practices”
Catherine Chesnay, professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Quebec in Montreal, notes that the problem with administrative isolation (linked to staff shortages) also comes from the fact that it escapes any accountability. “It is not counted, not regulated. »
This is part of the “opacity of correctional practices” and the lack of transparency that she observed while preparing her study. Deaths in provincial prisons: state of affairspublished in 2024.
To succeed in obtaining data, which is nevertheless of high public interest, she notes, “it was epic”.
What Catherine Chesnay discovered was that there was a net increase of 87% in the death rate over 13 years in Quebec prisons.
Even more disturbing, in his eyes, “deaths classified as natural deaths represent 33% of deaths”, while deaths “of undetermined cause” represent 28% of all deaths.
This appears all the more abnormal to him since the coroner necessarily investigates and the cause is ultimately identified.
“This proportion is worrying and reveals the lack of surveillance and monitoring of the phenomenon of deaths in provincial prisons. »
Lynda Khelil, spokesperson for the League of Rights and Freedoms, is calling on the Quebec government to set up a “public commission of inquiry to conduct an examination of the entire Quebec prison system. […] Prison authorities have an obligation to respect the rights of incarcerated people at all times.”
Violence on the rise in federal penitentiaries
As for federal penitentiaries, Canada’s correctional investigator, Ivan Zinger, sounded the alarm last week, saying there was an outbreak of violence. As he mentioned in Globe and Mail, between 2014-2015 and 2023-2024, physical attacks against penitentiary staff increased by 189%. Between prisoners, the increase is 132% (the number of prisoners being stable between these two periods).
Drugs and weapons delivered in particular by drones have something to do with it, but that is far from explaining everything, says Mr. Zinger, who denounces the fact that prisoners “spend a lot more time in cells” these years. Unlike provincial prisons, there is no shortage of officers in federal penitentiaries. But there is a significant shortage of social workers, psychologists, trainers and criminologists. That being said, access to all kinds of training programs, schooling and mental health services is very limited, “some penitentiaries having no psychologist” on site, mentions Mr. Zinger for example.