More prison firings, departures amid abuse investigation

EDMONTON More staffers have been fired or departed from Edmonton’s maximum security men’s prison as a workplace abuse investigation there nears its first year.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) says a total of 11 people have either left their jobs, been fired or suspended since it launched its ongoing probe of “alleged staff misconduct” at Edmonton Institution last September.

“We are facing numerous challenges around alleged staff misconduct and we are taking every action necessary to address them and prevent future instances,” correctional service spokeswoman Avely Serin said in a statement.

“This investigation has found that a number of allegations were founded, and to date, a total of seven employees have been terminated, one is suspended without pay and three are no longer working for CSC.”

Of the seven employees fired, four are correctional managers and three are correctional officers, CSC said. Six of the employees had been fired as of January.

The correctional service launched its investigation in Sep- tember 2017 after allegations from staff and inmates that employees were engaged in harassment, in- timidation and bullying. A new warden, Gary Sears, took over in January.

Edmonton city police are conducting their own investigation into criminal allegations against staff. A police spokeswoman said Monday that the investigation is ongoing but no charges have been laid.

A lawsuit filed in March by four female prison guards laid out some of the allegations against staff at the facility.

It alleged they endured prolonged abuse from male coworkers including sexual taunts, physical assaults, waterboarding and pepper spray being put on a toilet seat.

One female prison guard alleged a male co-worker pushed her over a desk, stuck his hand down her pants and locked a set of handcuffs through her underwear.

The allegations have not been proven in court. Statements of defence had not been filed by CSC or the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers as of Monday.

Zef Ordman, regional vice-president with the Union of Safety and Justice Employees, said the issues at the institution are deep-seated.

“These are systemic problems that have existed at Edmonton Institution for a very long time — years,” said Ordman. “I don’t think it’s gotten better yet. I think the overt stuff that was happening — I don’t think that’s happening (anymore), but this doesn’t happen outside of a culture that allows it to happen.”

He said the union — which represents tradespeople, parole officers, program officers, kitchen staff and other employees — had advocated for a third-party investigation.

“I don’t believe that simply changing management and having some committee meetings will actually go very far,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers referred Postmedia to an earlier statement condemning “all forms of harassment” but declined to comment further.

There are 383 CSC staff employed at the institution, CSC said, including 16 correctional managers and 249 correctional officers.

The prison, in northeast Edmonton, is built to house 324 inmates.