Little has changed since lockdown ended: detainee
The lockdown at Bordeaux jail has been over for more than a week and the outbreak of COVID-19 has been contained, but conditions at the detention centre remain difficult, says one detainee.
“It’s been very hard on everybody here,” said the detainee, who went through the 18-day lockdown. “Guys who were once friends are turning on each other, yelling at each other.”
The detainee asked that his name not be published because he fears reprisals for complaining about the conditions inside Quebec’s largest detention centre. Bordeaux remains the only detention centre in the province to experience a significant outbreak of the coronavirus.
A total of 93 inmates and detainees at the jail, officially named the Montreal Detention Centre, have tested positive for COVID -19 since the last week of April. The lockdown began early in May after the virus spread from one sector to another. Inmates and detainees were kept in their cells 24 hours a day.
The lockdown ended on May 24 and the conditions imposed have gradually been eased. For example, the detainee interviewed by the Montreal Gazette said the time he is allowed to spend outside his cell increased from two hours to three on Wednesday. And every second day someone checks the inmates and detainees for symptoms of COVID -19.
Inmates and detainees are allowed to take showers and get their laundry done, neither of which was allowed during lockdown. On Tuesday, those in the sector where the Montreal Gazette interviewee resides were allowed to have meals outside their cells for the first time in a month.
“I understand what they are trying to do. But it is mentally tough on everyone,” the detainee said. He added that while he is glad the lockdown is over, he would prefer a return to normal measures, when he could spend eight hours outside his cell.
“We get to read newspapers. We see the news. The province is reopening. Governments are opening everything. So why isn’t it happening here? We’ve been told they are worried about a second wave. I can understand that. But what about our mental health?”
The detainee said he was told he and the other men behind bars at Bordeaux will soon be given masks. He added that guards have recently been wearing masks and face shields on a regular basis, which wasn’t happening in May. The detainee also had access to disinfectant this week, for the first time since the pandemic began.
According to information supplied by the provincial government on its website, as of Thursday there were no cases of COVID-19 at the Montreal Detention Centre. The government managed to reduce the total number of inmates and detainees at the detention centre from 933 on May 8 to 824 as of Thursday.
One detainee, 72-year-old Robert Langevin, died in a hospital on May 19. His death is being investigated by the provincial coroner. Langevin was arrested in December, and in March raised concerns about his health to authorities at the jail. It appears little, or nothing, was done to address his concerns. Langevin had undergone heart surgery in 2018 and required oxygen treatments while he was behind bars.
The detainee interviewed by the Montreal Gazette said he knew Langevin and described him as “a nice guy. A very quiet guy.”
He said it was very evident that Langevin suffered from serious health problems before the pandemic hit Bordeaux.
The public security minister did not respond to a request for comment on what authorities at Bordeaux jail are doing to prevent a second wave of COVID-19.