prison

Correctional officers came across a pigeon with a mini backpack on Feb. 27 at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford. (Stock photo by Couleur from Pixabay)

Backpack-wearing pigeon caught ‘in training’ at Abbotsford prison

Officers’ union president says no drugs found, unlike previous incident in December

 

Markus Batraki, a formerly incarcerated student, is one of many students who have had their lives transformed by an ‘inside-out’ program. (Vancouver Island University photo)

$1 million donation will allow Island university to expand prison education program

Donation will allow ‘inside-out program’ to expand educational opportunities across B.C.

 

Gary Donald Johnston. (File photo)

Surrey murderer who stabbed man during burglary dies in prison

Gary Donald Johnston was serving a life sentence for the 1998 murder of Vic Fraser, a man he brutally stabbed to death in Bridgeview

 

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Court certifies class-action suit alleging rampant illegal strip searches in prisons

Suit seeks an end to unauthorized searches, seeks compensation for victims

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An inmate at the North Slave Correctional Complex in Yellowknife skins a squirrel as he and others take part in a class that teaches inmates trapping and outdoor survival skills on Thursday, Feb.16, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

‘Helped me rejuvenate my soul:’ Inmates in Yellowknife learn trapping, outdoor skills

Program intended to empower inmates and reconnect them with their culture

An inmate at the North Slave Correctional Complex in Yellowknife skins a squirrel as he and others take part in a class that teaches inmates trapping and outdoor survival skills on Thursday, Feb.16, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
Witness box and Judges’s bench at the Edmonton Law Courts building, in Edmonton on Friday, June 28, 2019. A registry of wrongful conviction cases in Canada is launching for the first time, showing 83 cases where people had their convictions overturned. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Researchers hope wrongfully convicted database will lead to reforms, more releases

Database launching this week with 83 cases

Witness box and Judges’s bench at the Edmonton Law Courts building, in Edmonton on Friday, June 28, 2019. A registry of wrongful conviction cases in Canada is launching for the first time, showing 83 cases where people had their convictions overturned. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a keynote address on the Canada-Mexico relationship and North American competitiveness at the Centro University in Mexico City, Mexico, Wednesday Jan.11, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is looking “carefully” and “quickly” at a letter from Canada’s premiers calling for a fix to the country’s bail system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Trudeau says Ottawa looking at bail reform after letter from premiers demands action

Poilievre says repeat offenders pose the biggest risk to public safety

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a keynote address on the Canada-Mexico relationship and North American competitiveness at the Centro University in Mexico City, Mexico, Wednesday Jan.11, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is looking “carefully” and “quickly” at a letter from Canada’s premiers calling for a fix to the country’s bail system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
William Head Institution is shown through a security fence. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Lam)

William Head escapee warnings improving, but still need work: fire chief

Metchosin Fire Chief Stephanie Dunlop said working with federal agencies makes improving protocols challenging

William Head Institution is shown through a security fence. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Lam)
The Pacific Institution is shown in this undated handout photo. A prison union spokesman says a pigeon carrying a miniature backpack filled with drugs was captured last week at the B.C. correctional facility. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Pacific Institution

Pigeon toting crystal meth in tiny backpack caught in Abbotsford prison yard

Officers’ union president says it’s another example of how creative drug smugglers have become

The Pacific Institution is shown in this undated handout photo. A prison union spokesman says a pigeon carrying a miniature backpack filled with drugs was captured last week at the B.C. correctional facility. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Pacific Institution
Kendal Campeau died in Pacific Institution in Abbotsford on Nov. 14, 2021.

More answers sought into death of Indigenous man in Abbotsford prison

Two organizations say Kendal Campeau was victim of ‘systemic issues’

Kendal Campeau died in Pacific Institution in Abbotsford on Nov. 14, 2021.
The body of Metchosin man Martin Payne was discovered July 12, 2019. Two escaped inmates from William Head Institution have been charged with his murder. (Martin Payne/Facebook)

Trial gets underway for escaped inmates accused of murdering Metchosin man

Zachary Armitage and James Lee Busch are charged with killing 60-year-old Martin Payne

The body of Metchosin man Martin Payne was discovered July 12, 2019. Two escaped inmates from William Head Institution have been charged with his murder. (Martin Payne/Facebook)
Inmates at the William Head Institution show off their Royal Canadian Legion Branch 91 poppy box. Since at least 2016, inmates at the institution have been making donations to the West Shore Legion’s poppy campaign. (Courtesy of William Head Institution)

West Shore poppy fund support comes from all over, even prison

Inmates at the William Head Institution in Metchosin make annual donations

Inmates at the William Head Institution show off their Royal Canadian Legion Branch 91 poppy box. Since at least 2016, inmates at the institution have been making donations to the West Shore Legion’s poppy campaign. (Courtesy of William Head Institution)
Pacific Institution in Abbotsford

Man dies while serving time in Abbotsford prison for double murder

Darcy Sidoruk, sentenced in 1982, was an inmate at Pacific Institution

Pacific Institution in Abbotsford
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)

Metchosin man’s death due to prison allowing inmates to escape, daughters allege

Civil suit says Correctional Service of Canada staff failed repeatedly

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)