On Thursday, May 14, federal Parliamentary Secretary for Public Safety and Member of Parliament for La Prairie – Atateken Jacques Ramsay, joined National President David Neufeld and Regional Vice President Patrick Menard for a tour of Drummond Institution. The tour was at the invitation of President Neufeld following a briefing to the Minister’s office that USJE provided upon the release of its groundbreaking report on Correctional Program Officers authored by Dr. Rose Ricciardelli. It is only the second federal Institution in Quebec that MP Ramsay has been able to visit thus far.
The tour was three hours in length, and was led by RVP Ménard and USJE Local President Michel Drolet. USJE was also joined by the Warden Francis Anctil and Regional Deputy Commissioner, Anne-Marie Labalette. USJE was pleased that MP Ramsay was very interested in touring as much of the federal Institution as possible with the time he had available.
The tour began in the kitchen where MP Ramsay was able to learn more about the large and complex operation that is undertaken daily to feed approximately 400 federal offenders. President Neufeld took the time to share with MP Ramsay USJE’s efforts to improve the working conditions of Food Services Officers after the brutal assault of a USJE member working in the kitchen at Stony Mountain Institution in 2021.
President Neufeld explained that Food Services Officers have frequently suffered from hazardous working conditions, and a lack of safety training, not to mention understaffed kitchens. He highlighted that USJE has been strongly advocating for
- Immediate (and annual) safety training;
- More Food Service Officers in the kitchens; and
- Broken equipment to be fixed.
In response, CSC has undertaken a Food Services Human Resources Review which will inform the development of a new staffing model aimed at modernizing food services operations and increasing the number of Food Service Officers in institutional kitchens. President Neufeld explained that while the review was initially expected to advance to EXCOM in the Fall of 2025, the federal government’s Comprehensive Expenditure Reviewhas slowed down departmental timelines and planning processes. President Neufeld emphasized that it is vital that this important work continues to move forward and that he is hopeful that it will become a priority to the newly appointed Commissioner.
MP Ramsay was then given a tour of the extensive CORCAN facilities with Drummond Institution. CORCAN is a special operating agency within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). Drummond Institution offers an array of employment and employability programs to federal offenders throughout their sentence, including vocational training, employability skills, apprenticeships and more. MP Ramsay was able to interact with a number of instructors who lead the delivery of these programs, and tour some of the facilities where these programs are offered.
At the same time, MP Ramsay also had the chance to hear about the particular efforts that some USJE members (who support CORCAN) are undertaking at Drummond Institution to prevent drones from entering the perimeter of the building. This is an issue confronting most federal penitentiaries, so is not unique to the institution in Drummondville.
Throughout the visit, RVP Menard and USJE’s Local President ensured that MP Ramsay – who also serves as the federal Parliamentary Secretary for Public Safety – was meeting with USJE members on the frontline. These are the individuals that are directly responsible for providing crucial training and rehabilitation opportunities – while offering their expertise in order to support safe operations within the Institution, and the rehabilitation of federal offenders.
Additionally, USJE ensured that Correctional Program Officers and Institutional Parole Officers were also provided with the opportunity to share their perspectives with MP Ramsay. They emphasized that the overwhelming majority of offenders will be released from Drummond Institution – like is the case for most Institutions -and are expected to successfully integrate back into communities across the country.
That is why it was so important that MP Ramsay was able, during the tour, to hear directly from many of the Correctional Program Officers on site and a few Parole Officers who highlighted some of the current challenges at Drummond Institution. The Program Officers present described the importance of forging trusting relationships with offenders who are mandated to complete intense programs designed to address their criminological risk factors. They shared that, while these programs can make a meaningful difference, offenders sometimes struggle in classes not well suited to their needs – or in circumstances where there is too much variation among offenders (in terms of levels of awareness or program mastery) to make the programs truly effective.
Program Officers also highlighted with MP Ramsay the emotional toll that some of this work can have which can spill over to the families of Correctional employees themselves. Without the benefit of a strong connection between a Correctional Program Officer and federal offenders, many will not learn to change their behaviour. They also described the frustrations they experience if they do not have the time or resources to properly support offenders. USJE advised Program Officers present of USJE’s latest report by Dr. Ricciardelli on the experiences of Correctional Program Officers – and they were encouraged to read the report so they could better understand how USJE is advocating for crucial changes.
A seasoned Institutional Parole Officer – Karine Esparza – also spoke about the difficulty Parole Officers experience at Drummond (among other Institutions) given untenably high offender caseloads, as well as the fact that offenders now come with more complex mental health and related needs. She appealed to MP Ramsay to work with the Minister’s office to immediately lower caseloads so that Parole Officers could fulfill their mandate to assess and mitigate the risk that offenders pose prior to their release back into the community. Madame Esparza said that without a concerted effort by CSC to reduce caseloads, the capacity of Parole Officers to do their work effectively and keep Canadians safe will be severely compromised.
President Neufeld and RVP Menard ended the visit with a brief conversation with MP Ramsay about how important it is to ensure that forthcoming cuts under the Comprehensive Expenditure Review do not undermine the high-quality work being undertaken by USJE rehabilitative staff within Institutions and in the Community. They emphasized that CSC has a history of “staffing to the minimum” and that this practice creates additional pressures on front line Parole Officers. They noted that the new Commissioner appears highly motivated to proceed cautiously with cuts in “wave 2” of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review and to take into consideration the feedback being provided by USJE representatives.
MP Ramsay was very appreciative for the visit and an opportunity to better understand some of the crucial interventions led by USJE members. He could clearly see how integral USJE members are to the federal Correctional system, and specifically to the successful rehabilitation and effective reintegration of federal offenders. MP Ramsay committed to sharing the knowledge and experience he acquired at Drummond Institution with the Minister of Public Safety and other MPs in the coming months.