prison

Correctional Investigator of Canada Dr. Ivan Zinger listens during a news conference to discuss the 2021-22 annual report, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Canada failing Black, Indigenous prisoners as overrepresentation persists: report

Rampant racial discrimination, stereotyping and bias, are ‘as pervasive and persistent as before’

Correctional Investigator of Canada Dr. Ivan Zinger listens during a news conference to discuss the 2021-22 annual report, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Barb Presseau, seen here on Oct. 21, 2022, is upset the man who killed her son Doug on July 7, 2017 downtown Chilliwack is set for statutory release on or near Nov. 19, 2022. Kirkland Russell was sentenced to eight years for the killing. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

OPINION: Mother of B.C. man stabbed to death outraged over killer’s imminent release

Barbara Presseau wants public to know that offenders only serve two-thirds of sentences behind bars

Barb Presseau, seen here on Oct. 21, 2022, is upset the man who killed her son Doug on July 7, 2017 downtown Chilliwack is set for statutory release on or near Nov. 19, 2022. Kirkland Russell was sentenced to eight years for the killing. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
A July 5, 2021 photo of Oleksii Kisilishin holding his dog Cherry. In the last, brief conversations Viktoria Skliar had with Oleksii Kisilishin, her detained boyfriend, the Ukrainian prisoner of war was making tentative plans for life after his release in an upcoming exchange with Russia. The next time Skliar saw Kisilishin, he was dead — one of several bodies in a photo of people local authorities said were killed when blasts ripped through a prison in a part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. (Viktoria Skliar via AP)

A Ukrainian woman’s quest to retrieve body of prisoner of war

Her boyfriend died when the prison he was being held captive in was blown up

A July 5, 2021 photo of Oleksii Kisilishin holding his dog Cherry. In the last, brief conversations Viktoria Skliar had with Oleksii Kisilishin, her detained boyfriend, the Ukrainian prisoner of war was making tentative plans for life after his release in an upcoming exchange with Russia. The next time Skliar saw Kisilishin, he was dead — one of several bodies in a photo of people local authorities said were killed when blasts ripped through a prison in a part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. (Viktoria Skliar via AP)
File Photo. Deputy Rick Bray watches surveillance monitors from the control room at the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

B.C. sheriff points to staff shortages, guard apathy for drugs in prisons

Sheriff speaks on anonymity as to how drugs get into prisons

File Photo. Deputy Rick Bray watches surveillance monitors from the control room at the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
The Parole Board of Canada has denied Tara Desousa, 40, parole once again, out of a belief that they still pose a potentially high risk to the public. This image has been cropped from the original photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Public safety over Gladue: B.C. dangerous offender denied parole after 25 years behind bars

Tara Desousa was 15 years old when they sexually assaulted an infant in Quesnel in 1997

The Parole Board of Canada has denied Tara Desousa, 40, parole once again, out of a belief that they still pose a potentially high risk to the public. This image has been cropped from the original photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
In this file photo, B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on May 31, 2022. On Oct. 3, 2022, she announced new supports for people exiting correctional facilities in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. expanding post-prison support services to all 10 correctional facilities

Length of support also expanding from 30 to 90 days

In this file photo, B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on May 31, 2022. On Oct. 3, 2022, she announced new supports for people exiting correctional facilities in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
James Lee Busch and Zachary Armitage escaped from the William Head institution on July 7, 2019 and were subsequently charged with first-degree murder in the death of martin Payne of Metchosin. A civil case launched by Payne’s daughters blames the correctional system for their escape and the death of their father. (Correctional Service of Canada/Facebook)

Daughters suing prison system over B.C. man’s death following prison break

Civil suit alleges Correctional Service of Canada staff failed repeatedly in death of Martin Payne

James Lee Busch and Zachary Armitage escaped from the William Head institution on July 7, 2019 and were subsequently charged with first-degree murder in the death of martin Payne of Metchosin. A civil case launched by Payne’s daughters blames the correctional system for their escape and the death of their father. (Correctional Service of Canada/Facebook)
FILE - WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Closing arguments in Brittney Griner’s cannabis possession case in Russia are set for Thursday. That’s nearly six months after the American basketball star was arrested at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russia diplomacy. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Russian judge sentences WNBA’s Brittney Griner to 9 years in prison

Griner convicted of possessing and smuggling cannabis oil into the country

FILE - WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Closing arguments in Brittney Griner’s cannabis possession case in Russia are set for Thursday. That’s nearly six months after the American basketball star was arrested at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russia diplomacy. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Used needles are shown at a needle exchange in Miami, May 6, 2019. Despite pandemic slow-downs, Correctional Service Canada is still planning to expand the needle exchange programs currently offered at nine federal prisons, government officials say. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Lynne Sladky
Used needles are shown at a needle exchange in Miami, May 6, 2019. Despite pandemic slow-downs, Correctional Service Canada is still planning to expand the needle exchange programs currently offered at nine federal prisons, government officials say. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Lynne Sladky
A jail cell at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C.’s Ombudsperson calls for oversight of municipal jails after detainee left screaming in pain

Currently no means of recourse for detainees mistreated by jail guards in RCMP-policed communities

A jail cell at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment. (Black Press Media file photo)
Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford (Abbotsford News file photo)

Over $280K in contraband seized at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford

Package located on July 5 contained drugs, drug paraphernalia and ‘communication devices’

Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford (Abbotsford News file photo)
Iris McNeil was murdered in 1997 by James Shortreed, who was recently denied in his request for temporary absences from William Head Institution in Metchosin, where he has been incarcerated for roughly 25 years. (Photo courtesy of the McNeil family)

Lower Mainland killer denied bid for temporary absences from Vancouver Island prison

Parole board finds James Shortreed’s absence plan insufficient; risk factors not addressed

Iris McNeil was murdered in 1997 by James Shortreed, who was recently denied in his request for temporary absences from William Head Institution in Metchosin, where he has been incarcerated for roughly 25 years. (Photo courtesy of the McNeil family)
The Mission Correctional Institution in Mission, B.C. is pictured Tuesday, April 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward.

Corrections officers sound alarm after B.C. prison manager promoted amid harassment complaints

Fraser Valley corrections officers say abusive managers face no discipline from CSC

The Mission Correctional Institution in Mission, B.C. is pictured Tuesday, April 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward.
A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada said it is working to provide timely access to addiction treatment after settling a human rights complaint launched in 2018. THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg
A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada said it is working to provide timely access to addiction treatment after settling a human rights complaint launched in 2018. THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg