Nicous D’Andre Spring died on December 24 after a cayenne pepper operation within the walls of the Montreal Detention Facility (EDM), better known as the Bordeaux prison.
What exactly happened? Correctional officers have been known to use a spit mask. The media also reported that the use of pepper spray was problematic and did not follow protocol, but there is still a lot of information missing to get a full picture.
Lack of training ? Attitude of the agents involved? Discrimination against black inmates? The questions are many.
His family has the right to know the exact circumstances of the death of the 21-year-old young man who was to be released the day before.
The Quebec population too.
There will be at least three inquests into this tragedy.
A criminal investigation by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), an administrative investigation by the Ministry of Public Security and an investigation by the Coroner’s Office.
The Red Coalition, a lobby group working to end the practice of racial profiling, is calling for an independent coroner’s public inquest similar to the one that shed light on the circumstances of Joyce Echaquan’s death. The coalition wants the coroner to look into the issue of systemic racism.
The coroner’s office absolutely must consider it.
Such an approach would help to better understand the context in which the illegally detained young man died.
It would also make it possible to better understand the reality of black prisoners in Quebec detention centres. If it is similar to that observed in federal prisons, there is work to do.
In his most recent annual report, the correctional investigator – the federal inmate ombudsman – focused on the situation of black prisoners. They are significantly overrepresented in federal corrections. In addition, black people “are more likely to be involved in a use of force incident, regardless of risk or safety level, age, sentence length, or gender.” we read in his report.
The Dr Ivan Zinger suggests the development of a national strategy that would specifically address their reality as well as targeted correctional programming adapted to their needs. It also proposes the establishment of a program of liaison officers dedicated to the needs of black people (one already exists at Cowansville prison) as well as studies to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.
Is the situation comparable in the detention centers under the responsibility of Quebec? There is little evidence on this.
The Quebec equivalent of the correctional investigator, the Québec Ombudsman, has never looked into the specific situation of black inmates.
All we know is that they are overrepresented in Quebec prisons. In an IRIS note published in November 2021 – The profile of persons in the criminal justice system in Quebec –, researchers Pierre Tircher and Gillaume Hébert noted that racialized people accounted for 33% of the prison population, a proportion 2.6 times greater than their representation in the general population (13%). However, these data turned out to be imprecise, to say the least, since the Quebec Correctional Services classify racialized people according to a questionable system of skin tones (from pale to dark) which therefore excludes people with lighter skin.
It is therefore legitimate to wonder whether the stakeholders responsible for managing the 18 Quebec detention centers have an accurate portrait of the situation of black detainees as well as the tools necessary to support them and treat them without discrimination.
To find out, we need an independent public inquiry.