prison

Pacific Institution in Abbotsford

Killer of Calgary man dies while in B.C. prison

Bradley Koester sentenced in 1984 for murder of Frank Vervoort

 

A panel of United Nations experts say Canada is failing to ensure equitable justice, citing trial delays and problems with initiatives meant to lower the rate of Indigenous people behind bars. A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) sign is seen in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Canada lacks proper oversight, safeguards for people behind bars: UN experts

Experts say Canada has issues with trial delays, number of Indigenous inmates

 

The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers held a protest in Abbotsford on Thursday, April 15 outside Correctional Service Canada’s Pacific region headquarters. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

Drones infiltrating prisons a threat Corrections Canada says it is tackling

Officials confident measures will help curb contraband smuggled into prisons

 

More than 100 members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers held a rally in Abbotsford, B.C. on Thursday (April 18) over increased violence in correctional facilities. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

More than 100 prison guards rally in Abbotsford over increased violence

Union representing correctional officers says incidents have gone up 45%

More than 100 members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers held a rally in Abbotsford, B.C. on Thursday (April 18) over increased violence in correctional facilities. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)
Patches are seen on the arm and shoulder of a corrections officer in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday Oct. 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Drug drops, drones and weapons have B.C. prison guards on edge

Rise of prison violence has workers feeling they are facing an ‘attack on all fronts’

Patches are seen on the arm and shoulder of a corrections officer in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday Oct. 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Fraser Regional Correctional Centre is one of four Lower Mainland prisons where former jail guard Roderic David MacDougall is accused of sexually assaulting inmates between 1976 to 1997. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. jail guard accused of 200 sex assaults in class-action against province

Proposed lawsuit says B.C. failed to do anything about the assaults while they occurred for 2 decades

The Fraser Regional Correctional Centre is one of four Lower Mainland prisons where former jail guard Roderic David MacDougall is accused of sexually assaulting inmates between 1976 to 1997. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford is part of the Matsqui prison complex. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

Corrections says water leak at Abbotsford prison complex poses no risk

Most recent assessment concluded there was no contamination, says CSC

Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford is part of the Matsqui prison complex. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)
An engineer who works at the central heating plant at the Matsqui prison complex in Abbotsford is concerned about the potential environmental risks to nearby farms from an ongoing leak of chemically treated water. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

Chemically treated water still leaking at Abbotsford prison, says engineer

Worker says almost 9 million litres have leaked since investigation into Matsqui complex

An engineer who works at the central heating plant at the Matsqui prison complex in Abbotsford is concerned about the potential environmental risks to nearby farms from an ongoing leak of chemically treated water. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)
The Alouette Correctional Centre for Women is seen in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Monday, December 10, 2018. A new study led by a B.C. criminology professor says people jailed in the province who have addiction and mental health issues are at high risk of being reincarcerated within a few years of being released. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Jail return likely for inmates with addictions issues: B.C. study

SFU probe finds 72 per cent back behind bars within 3 years

The Alouette Correctional Centre for Women is seen in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Monday, December 10, 2018. A new study led by a B.C. criminology professor says people jailed in the province who have addiction and mental health issues are at high risk of being reincarcerated within a few years of being released. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Pacific Institution in Abbotsford is situated on top of three aquifers at the Matsqui prison complex, along with Matsqui Institution and the Fraser Valley Institution for Women. The complex was the subject of a federal investigation into a major leak of its water system.

Leak at Abbotsford prison complex leached chemicals for 4 years, says report

Federal investigation concludes Corrections staff guilty of ‘gross mismangement’

Pacific Institution in Abbotsford is situated on top of three aquifers at the Matsqui prison complex, along with Matsqui Institution and the Fraser Valley Institution for Women. The complex was the subject of a federal investigation into a major leak of its water system.
Three inmates have been charged in relation to a stabbing on Oct. 22, 2023 at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford. (Abbotsford News file photo)

3 inmates charged with stabbing inside Abbotsford prison

Victim needed life-saving measures following incident at Matsqui Institution

Three inmates have been charged in relation to a stabbing on Oct. 22, 2023 at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford. (Abbotsford News file photo)
Conservative MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Frank Caputo rises during Question Period, Tuesday, February 7, 2023 in Ottawa. Canada’s prison service says there is no working hockey rink at the institution a Conservative MP is warning allows its most notorious inmates to play “taxpayer funded serial killer pick-up hockey.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

B.C. MP’s ‘serial killer pickup hockey’, Bernado story sparks political firestorm

Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP’s prison account includes visit to the cell of notorious killer

Conservative MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Frank Caputo rises during Question Period, Tuesday, February 7, 2023 in Ottawa. Canada’s prison service says there is no working hockey rink at the institution a Conservative MP is warning allows its most notorious inmates to play “taxpayer funded serial killer pick-up hockey.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
This undated photo released by the Taliban Interior Ministry on Sunday Feb. 11, 2024, shows Afghan prisoner Abdul Karim. Two Afghan prisoners who were held in U.S. custody for more than 13 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center after 2002 were released from house arrest in Oman, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday Feb. 11, 2024. Abdul Zahir Saber and Abdul Karim were released as a result of the efforts made by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Taliban interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said. (Taliban Interior Ministry via AP)

2 Afghans who were kept at Guantanamo Bay for 14 years released, Taliban says

Men were under house arrest since leaving Guantanamo Bay in 2017

This undated photo released by the Taliban Interior Ministry on Sunday Feb. 11, 2024, shows Afghan prisoner Abdul Karim. Two Afghan prisoners who were held in U.S. custody for more than 13 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center after 2002 were released from house arrest in Oman, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday Feb. 11, 2024. Abdul Zahir Saber and Abdul Karim were released as a result of the efforts made by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Taliban interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said. (Taliban Interior Ministry via AP)
The Surrey Pretrial Centre in Surrey on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. The course includes equal numbers of students from outside and inside the Surrey Pretrial Centre. (Photo by Anna Burns/Surrey Now-Leader)

Students go inside prison in ‘eye-opening’ B.C. university course

Surrey Pretrial is a remand centre for inmates awaiting trial or sentencing

The Surrey Pretrial Centre in Surrey on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. The course includes equal numbers of students from outside and inside the Surrey Pretrial Centre. (Photo by Anna Burns/Surrey Now-Leader)
A medical biller has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after being convicted in a massive insurance fraud scheme that involved posing as an NBA player and other patients to harangue the companies for payments that weren’t actually due, prosecutors said.. File photo
A medical biller has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after being convicted in a massive insurance fraud scheme that involved posing as an NBA player and other patients to harangue the companies for payments that weren’t actually due, prosecutors said.. File photo
William Head Institution is shown through a security fence in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Lam

Fall of the 2 towers explained as B.C. prison shifts to manage risk

Victoria area minimum-security prison demolishing guard towers, replacing them with cameras

  • Feb 1, 2024
William Head Institution is shown through a security fence in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Lam
The housing crisis gripping the country is having a profound effect on the justice system, speeding up the well-established carousel between homelessness and incarceration, according to people who work with incarcerated people. Inmates in provincial institutions are already released with few supports in place, said Ontario lawyer Beth Bromberg.

Amid housing crisis, decrepit N.L. jail seen as preferable to living on the street

In B.C., a non-profit picks up inmates when they’re released and helps them find shelter, food

The housing crisis gripping the country is having a profound effect on the justice system, speeding up the well-established carousel between homelessness and incarceration, according to people who work with incarcerated people. Inmates in provincial institutions are already released with few supports in place, said Ontario lawyer Beth Bromberg.
A correctional officer drives past the main gate to the Mountain Institution, Sunday, March 30, 2008. A union leader says the prison in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley is experiencing an “insane” drug problem, with drones making multiple deliveries to prisoners each day. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

‘Non-stop’ drone drug drops exhausting B.C. prison workers: union

Union of Canadian Correctional Officers says problem ‘insane’

A correctional officer drives past the main gate to the Mountain Institution, Sunday, March 30, 2008. A union leader says the prison in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley is experiencing an “insane” drug problem, with drones making multiple deliveries to prisoners each day. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Terry Teegee, regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations speaks at a meeting between Canada’s premiers and Indigenous leaders at the Songhees Wellness Centre on July 1, 2022. The BC Assembly of First Nations is calling for a desperate and urgent transformation of the federal correctional system. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)

B.C. First Nations call for desperate, urgent changes to Canada’s corrections system

Indigenous women account for half the total female federal inmate population

Terry Teegee, regional Chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations speaks at a meeting between Canada’s premiers and Indigenous leaders at the Songhees Wellness Centre on July 1, 2022. The BC Assembly of First Nations is calling for a desperate and urgent transformation of the federal correctional system. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)
Correctional Investigator of Canada, Dr. Ivan Zinger, delivers remarks at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Canadian prisons ‘disturbingly and unconscionably Indigenized’: corrections watchdog

About 3% of the correctional service’s annual budget goes to supporting healing lodges: Report

Correctional Investigator of Canada, Dr. Ivan Zinger, delivers remarks at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby