Thousands of ex-inmates from all walks of life become active members of society every year thanks to the Canadian and Quebec prison system which, although imperfect, is strongly focused on social reintegration.
“Social reintegration works and we see it. But there is still work to do,” observes David Henry, criminologist and general director of the Association of Social Rehabilitation Services of Quebec.
Former electro-pop singer Pierre-François Blondeau, alias Midaz, imprisoned for 11 months for sexual assault on a minor, is living proof of this, having decided to launch a foundation to prevent crimes of this kind.
- Listen to the interview with ex-inmate Colin McGregor on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s microphone via QUB :
Of the same opinion as Mr. Henry, criminology expert Jean-Claude Bernheim believes, however, that sentences of less than 6 months for less serious offenses should not exist. According to him, it is a waste of time since we are only “storing” these people while waiting to release them.
“However, it is one of the most important factors of reintegration, because it allows you to meet your needs, stabilize yourself in a normal living environment and create a new healthy social circle”
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Photo STEVENS LEBLANC/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
It is precisely the supervision of a two-year federal sentence in the penitentiary that helped rapper Christian Dionne (Die-On) to get back on the right path, after a 5-year run in notorious areas of Colombia .
Christian Dionne, aka Die-On, during his run in Colombia while he was wanted for drug trafficking.
Photo provided by Christian Dionne
Several pitfalls
In all cases, ex-inmates encounter several pitfalls when returning to society. The search for work is often one of the most important, as ex-trafficker Danny Mélasco observed, who came up against several closed doors.
Danny Mélasco, 46, had difficulty finding work after being sentenced for drug trafficking in Sherbrooke in 2019.
Photo Dominick Menard
“Several inmates who received long sentences also struggle to navigate technology. Someone who comes out after 25 years today has almost never seen a cell phone, even though our life is about that these days,” says Mr. Henry.
This is precisely the situation Colin McGregor faced when he obtained his freedom in 2022, after 29 years in penitentiary for the murder of his wife.
Colin McGregor has been granted full release in 2022 after spending 29 years behind bars for the murder of his wife.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
“Revolving door” phenomenon
If The newspaper was able to highlight several cases of success in the prison environment, the fact remains that several individuals escape the system.
David Henry points out that the recidivism rate after two years for provincial prisoners is 50% for those who leave two-thirds of their sentence, without supervision. This proportion drops to 22% when they first go through conditional release.
At the federal level, this rate is around 25% over the following five years. Mr. Henry specifies that inmates are followed until the end of their initial sentence, even if they are automatically released at two-thirds of their sentence, unlike the provincial system.
“This problem is well documented in Quebec, it is the phenomenon of revolving doors […] We put a lot of money into detention and very little into monitoring,” laments the criminologist.