Union lied to justify lockdown, lawyer says

The union representing Alberta’s correctional officers “lied” to justify a lockdown at the Edmonton Remand Centre that led to more time in cells for some inmates, charges a veteran city lawyer.

Inmates at the provincial jail in Edmonton were locked down for 12 hours in mid-December after what Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) leaders called a series of assaults on guards.

A number of inmates were then placed on a “tier rotation” schedule that meant longer hours locked up in cells.

Lawyer Tom Engel slammed the moves in a June 5 letter to the Ministry of Justice and solicitor general.

“The core of my complaints is that (correctional peace officers) and AUPE lied to the ministry and to the public, through the media, about the conditions at the Edmonton Remand Centre that they claimed justified the wildcat lockdown of prisoners,” Engel wrote in a June 5 letter to associate deputy minister Dennis Cooley.

“Many prisoners were confined to their cells for longer hours over an extended period which was not authorized by the ministry,” the letter continues. “Regarding the ministry agreeing to longer lockup ... that too was based on lies to the ministry and the public.”

Engel is demanding that the government investigate.

In December, AUPE president Guy Smith said guards locked down the remand centre in response to unprovoked attacks on correctional officers. Most of the assaults happened when officers opened an inmate’s door or were alone with the inmate, Smith said.

Things came to a head when one inmate knocked a correctional officer unconscious, he said.

“It’s partly because inmates think they can get away with it,” Smith said at the time. “That there’s not enough consequence for it … somehow it’s open season on officers.

Smith also told industry publication OHS Canada that the facility’s design, which allows large numbers of inmates to congregate outside cells, increased “risk to both inmates and staff for injury or violence.”

Engel said that doesn’t jibe with official reports on assaults on correctional officers obtained through a freedom of information request.

Few if any of the 27 incidents described in official reports between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, involved inmates who were out of their cells on the unit attacking a guard, Engel said. Most occurred while an inmate was already in his or her cell. Others happened in line for medication and several did not happen in the remand centre at all.

Byron Bird, accused of punching an officer in the face, was the only inmate criminally charged in the wake of the wildcat lockdown.

“The assaults that (AUPE) were describing don’t bear any resemblance to any of the assaults that occurred, according to their own descriptions,” Engel said.

In a written statement responding to Engel’s claims, AUPE legal counsel Simon Renouf said the union “totally rejects any suggestion that AUPE’s statements did not accurately reflect conditions in the (Edmonton Remand Centre) in December 2017.”

“AUPE did not lie. As Mr. Engel should know AUPE has a duty to its members, the staff of the ERC, to do all it can to protect their health and safety at the workplace.

“One way in which AUPE advocates for its members is to draw public attention to health and safety concerns as they arise.”

A spokeswoman with the Ministry of Justice said they are reviewing Engel’s letter and following up on his concerns.

The remand centre was built on a “direct supervision model” designed to maximize out-of-cell time and place fewer barriers between officers and inmates. The model, which met with union pushback, requires guards to develop a rapport with inmates.