#prisoner transfer

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"Group walks 15 km to mark prisoners' day," Edmonton Journal. August 13, 1984. Page 13. --- By KRISTIN GOFF Journal Staff Writer Carrying signs that read "I Love You Daddy" or "Prisoners are People," a small group Sunday marked International Prisoners' Justice Day with a 15-km march from the Law Courts Building to Edmonton Institution.

Prisoners' rights activists plan to present two petitions to Solicitor General Robert Kaplan.

One calls for the return of Philip Bearshirt to either Edmonton or Drumheller institution, where he would be closer to his common-law wife, Lynne Marie Big Plume, who lives in Calgary.

Bearshirt was abruptly transferred to a prison at Prince Albert, Sask. earlier this month after he went on a hunger strike to protest an alleged beating by guards at Edmonton Institution July 21.

Big Plume, who participated in Sunday's march, said she talked with prison officials in Saskatchewan early last week but still has not talked directly with Bearshirt.

She said she doesn't know whether he's in a special handling unit for dangerous prisoners or exactly why he was transferred without any notification to his family. She hopes to visit him within a couple of weeks but said she is worried that she may be refused permission to see him.

Corrections officials have previously said it is up to the prisoner to advise his family of his whereabouts.

Ishbel Munro-Butler, Edmonton Prisoners Support Group spokesperson, said a petition seeking Bearshirt's transfer back to Alberta was begun Thursday.

Although she had no signature count Sunday, Butler said she expected the first petition would be sent to Kaplan in the next week or two. More signatures would be forwarded as collected, she said.

Butler said the prisoners' support group intends to collect signatures for up to six months on a second petition which seeks abolition of special handling units within Canadian prisons.

The protesters say the units create violent behavior and harm inmates by depriving them of toilets, running water, bedding, clothing and by using "sensory deprivation" techniques such as leaving lights on for 24 hours.

The Sunday demonstration began with about 25 adults and children in downtown Edmonton. Butler said some participants dropped out along the route to Edmonton Institution but others joined up. She said as many as 40 people participated at one time.

Included in the demonstration were people protesting the treatment of prisoners in other countries, including Iran, Chili and El Salvador.

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"Prisoners seize guards at Manitoba penitentiary," Toronto Star. November 2, 1982. Page 6. ---- STONY MOUNTAIN, Man. (CP) - Disgruntled prisoners were holding two guards hostage last night at Manitoba's Stony Mountain Penitentiary.

The convicts seized four guards but released two unharmed, giving prison authorities hope the siege would end peacefully.

Wayne Crawford, spokesman for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents Canadian prison guards, said the barricaded cell block where the hostages are being held has long been considered a security risk. Unrest among the convicts, brewing since last summer, has been blamed on overcrowding.

A medium-security federal prison, Stony Mountain has a normal capacity of 470 prisoners, but now houses 480. The current siege is the third and worst of major disturbances there this year.

The block, where the siege began Sunday night following a prison Hallowe'en party with outside friends and relatives, contains 36 convicts, five of whom are described as the instigators of the incident.

Russ McGill, assistant warden, the only source of information on the hostage-taking, has been reluctant to provide details to reporters camped outside the prison, which sits on a hill against a flat Prairie backdrop.

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"TENSE DRAMA DRAGS ON," Winnipeg Sun. November 2, 1982. Page 1 & 3. --- By Steven Edwards Sun Staff Writer Murderer Roy Hoffman is believed to be the ringleader of a group of five Stony Mountain prisoners who last night were still holding two of four guards they took hostage Sunday.

One of the guards released by the prisoners identified Hoffman, 25, - jailed for life for shooting musician Eduardo Meric during a robbery in March - as the ringleader, sources told The Sun.

The guard also revealed that another of the five prisoners is Derrick Flight, 20, whose original sentence on property offences was extended by five years after he stabbed a fellow inmate to death last December.

The three remaining members of the hostage-taking group are believed to be serving time for less serious crimes.

Still being held last night were guards Ed Mowdy and John Mason. They were both said to be in their early 30s and married with children.

They were taken hostage along with guards Harold Cheadle and Bill Eyres at 8:30 pm. Sunday while locking up 37 prisoners in the maximum security area, an area for prisoners who've served time before.

Eyres, 58, married with a grown-up son, was released at 12:30 am. yesterday about the same time prison officials gave in to one of the demands of the five prisoners.

The prisoners had demanded Demerola barbiturate and were given about "two days' supply," said a spokesman for the guards who refused to be identified.

Cheadle, aged in his early 30s and also married with children, was released at 9:30 a.m. yesterday for an undetermined reason.

The five prisoners made further demands yesterday: Hoffman and Flight want to be transferred to Edmonton's penitentiary while a third member of the group wants a transfer to the penitentiary at Dorchester, N.B.

All five prisoners demand that no charges be laid as a result of their nabbing the hostages.

The five believed armed with home-made weapons remained holed up last night with most of the prisoners who were in the maximum security area at the time the hostages were taken. But only the group of five is described as being "actively involved" in holding the guards.

One of the prisoners not involved in the hostage-taking was snatched from the maximum security area yesterday after he apparently tried to commit suicide, said Russ McGill, an assistant warden at the penitentiary.

He was rushed to hospital with a "slash" wound, said McGill. The extent of his injury was un determined last night.

The spokesman for the guards said that a few more of the maximum security prisoners are left in the area where the hostages were taken.

McGill said yesterday that sometime during the hostage drama the five prisoners holding the guards acquired keys to a cell area for in-mates held in "protective custody for fear other prisoners will harm them.

He also said the five have access to the area, which holds up to 20 prisoners. But he would not say whether any protective custody inmates were in danger of being harmed.

Negotiators. including prison warden Terry Sawatski and Hoffman's lawyer, Hersh Wolch continued to speak with the five prisoners by telephone last night.

McGill said negotiations would continue "as long as they need," adding that penitentiary officials were in "frequent" contact with the federal Solicitor General's office.

Meanwhile an RCMP Emergency Response Team, armed with tear gas and trained in anti-terrorist techniques, was on stand-by.

The night the hostages were taken a few prisoners in another cell area staged a fracas by burning blankets and smashing windows, say sources within. the prison.

Yesterday all prisoners not in the maximum security area were locked in their cells and all visits were cancelled.

Visits by members of the public will continue to be cancelled today but some lawyers will be allowed to see their clients, said McGill.

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"Guards union slams gov't," Winnipeg Sun. November 2, 1982. Page 3. ---- By Steven Edwards Sun Staff Writer

A union official yesterday charged that inadequate security at Stony Mountain is partly to blame for the hostage-drama which continued last night.

Jack Hewitt, a union official for pen guards throughout Western Canada, called on the government to beef-up security in pens to prevent incidents like the hostage-taking at Stony Mountain and the recent murders of three guards during riots at Archambault pen in Montreal.

He wants all cell areas to be fitted with "armed control centres." These centres are bullet proofs bubbles situated above the prisoners area by armed guards. All guards who mingle with the prisoners are unarmed.

Hewitt says the mere presence of the armed guards is enough to deter prisoners from causing trouble.

Guards at Stony Mountain launched a work-to-rule campaign last spring to protest cuts in security.

They predicted trouble if nothing was done.

Hewitt says further incidents such as Stony's hostage taking will occur at pens across country if the government doesn't end its policy of saving money by cutting security.

"The corrections commission has got to get off its economic kick otherwise we'll continue to get more instances like this and maybe even more murders of guards," he said.

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"MP Murta demands a complete inquiry," Winnipeg Sun. November 2, 1982. Page 3. ---- By Paul Park For The Sun OTTAWA - A Manitoba MP wants a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the hostage taking at Stony Mountain Penitentiary.

Conservative Jack Murta told the House of Commons yesterday the incident proves yet again. that guards face dangers due to staff shortages and over-crowding. Comparing the Stony Mountain siege with a riot at Quebec's Archambault Penitentiary earlier this year, the Lisgar MP called for an investigation which would provide solutions to the problem.

Murta said he would not comment further on the incident until the two guards being held had been released safely, but warned outside the House that other prisons could explode with the same kind of violence.

"It could be a dangerous winter," the MP told The Sun.

A spokesman for Solicitor-General Bob Kaplan said the minister would not make any statements until the end of the Stony Mountain uproar.

In addition to the Archambault takeover, there have also been problems at Quebec's Dorchester Penitentiary [actually in New Brunswick] and prisons in British Columbia in recent years.

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"Kent troubles look familiar," The Province (Vancouver). November 30, 1979. Page 13. --- By BOB HENDRICKSON Troubles at the Kent Institution, Canada's newest maximum-security prison in Agassiz, may well be a replay of events at the B.C. Penitentiary now being phased out in New Westminster.

Just three months after the new prison was officially opened, it has been the scene of serious disciplinary problems including a small riot and hostage-taking incident.

On Tuesday inmates voted to end a sit-in that lasted almost one month. Prison spokesman Tony Hawkins said 12 inmates in essential services returned to their jobs Tuesday and normal operations would be "almost totally restored toward the week-end."

The sit-in appeared to be a continuation of the record at B.C. Pen. Most of the in-mates at Kent were transferred from the New Westminster prison and about half the staff.

Prison authorities consider the problems simply a part of establishing a facility and new routines.

Jack Stewart, a spokesman for the Canadian Penitentiary Service, said "it's a testing period in a new environment. It takes time to set up routines in a new penitentiary and there are a lot of adjustments to be made."

He said it is the same as starting a new hotel or restaurant.

Kent, with a capacity of 192, now has 85 inmates, Stewart said. It is a "major change" from an environment where the emphasis was on security to a new "living unit concept" where non-uniformed staff work both as counsellors and security personnel.

Negotiations to end the latest sit-in were an example of the changed emphasis. A prison spokesman said that in a secret ballot, inmates voted 38-18 to return to work. Twelve inmates went back to work Tuesday to restart the central services in the kitchen, library and laundry.

In return, prison authorities have agreed to resume telephone, visiting and recreational privileges that were suspended.

But the changed emphasis may not overcome the problems in the long run.

Distance is a factor. Kent is farther from Vancouver 160 kilometres than the B.C. Pen. The lives of many prisoners are centred in Vancouver, Stewart said, and the greater distance makes family visits more difficult.

The distance factor is going to cause more problems in the future, in the opinion of Al Hadvick, regional representative of the Public Service Alliance of Canada to which prison staff belong.

"It is a parallel to the Millhaven (maximum security prison in Ontario) experience," Hadvick said. "Isolation of an institution is a mistake."

Besides affecting family visits, prisoners on day passes looking for work are too far away from the job market.

Another problem may be that Kent is understaffed. Hadvick said there appeared to be "an excessive amount of overtime" at the prison. This was one of the warning signs mentioned by an all-party parliamentary committee set up two years ago to investigate troubles in Canadian prisons.

At Kent, three prisoners armed with glass shards from a broken light fixture held a guard for about an hour last week. Stewart said the guard escaped with only a slight cut when five other guards rushed the cell and overpowered the prisoners.

It was part of a series of incidents that began Oct. 28 when prisoners staged a small riot, touched off when about 39 inmates heard guards using sledgehammers to break into a cell where a prisoner had barricaded himself.

Authorities said the unidentified prisoner barricaded himself in the the cell and then set fire to it after being refused medication in excess of his prescription.

About $30,000 damage was caused by that disturbance and resulted in cancellation of all privileges. The loss of privileges spark-ed the sit-in.

Stewart said the B.C. Pen's remaining general inmate population should be moved by the end of the year, leaving about 80 protective custody cases. The schedule for phasing out the prison is a little behind, he said, but the prison should virtually be closed by spring.

It leaves a record of deaths, woundings, riots and hostage-takings during this decade that could well be the worst in the country.

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"LAST FLING DAMAGES CELLS: Prison trouble-free after inmate transfer," Vancouver Sun. November 30, 1979. Page 11. --- The climate at the new federal maximum security Kent Institution near Agassiz is described as "free of problems" following the transfer Thursday of 10 inmates to other maximum security prisons across Canada.

But the 10 prisoners being moved had a last fling, creating $500 damage to their cells and later did extensive damage to the bus transporting them to the Abbotsford airport.

Prison spokesman Tony Hawkins said the inmates were moved because of their part in a recent disturbance and "their apparent inability to participate in the program at Kent."

Convicts went on a cell-smashing spree causing thousands of dollars damage last month. No reason was given for the disturbance.

All prison programs were cancelled and prisoners were being fed in their cells. Hawkins said that full privileges have now been restored with the removal of the 10 inmates who refused to "comply with prison orders.

"The reasons for their transfer to other maximum security prisons was explained to them immediately prior to their departure and they decided to do more damage before leaving," said Hawkins. Another Kent prisoner not involved in the violence was transferred at his own request.

The remaining inmates did not react to the transfer, said Hawkins, and the institution is quiet. The new federal prison officially opened Aug. 1 and houses about 165 prisoners.

Three prisoners who held a prison guard hostage for an hour last week were not moved because they are awaiting trial for the hostage-taking.

The transfers were only part of a Canada-wide transfer program involving 25 B.C. prisoners, including convicted murderer Andy Bruce.

Bruce, one of Canada's most notorious prisoners, was returned to the Millhaven federal maximum security prisoner in Kingston, Ont. He had been sent here to appear as a witness in the preliminary hearing of a perjury trial of a B.C. Penitentiary guard.

A total of 25 prisoners left on a chartered aircraft from Abbotsford airport under escort by penitentiary officials for eastern prisons, federal corrections branch spokesman Jack Stewart said.

Thirteen of the prisoners were from the B.C. Penitentiary in New Westminster. Four of them were moved to eastern prisons as part of the scaling-down of the aging prison while four others were prisoners recently returned to Canada from the U.S. as part of a prisoner-trading agreement with that country. Under the arrangement, the four will be moved to prisons in the province of their choice, Stewart said.

One of the prisoners was transferred from the minimum-security prison in Matsqui at his request.

Cost of chartering the private aircraft was $28,-000 Stewart said. Although prisoners have been transferred on commercial air-lines in the past, corrections authorities feel it is safer to charter aircraft to move possibly dangerous inmates.

Seven prisoners from other facilities in Canada are being transferred to B.C. prisons. Five will go to Kent and two others are being sent to the regional psychiatric centre in Abbotsford, Stewart said.

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"First inmates arrive at Kent institution," Chilliwack Progress. August 22, 1979. Page 32. --- Maximum security Kent Institution near Agassiz accepted its first inmates last week, 18 months after the arrival of the initial five staff members.

The prison has opened on schedule, though a few minor contracts are not quite complete. Total capital cost for the installation is likely to be just under the $17.8 million budget.

A total of 195 of the eventual 218 staff are now on strength with 30 per cent now living in Agassiz-Harrison, 56 per cent in Chilliwack district (including 16 per cent in Sardis-Vedder Crossing) and 14 per cent in other areas. They bring with them a total of 200 children under 18 years of age.

Inmates will be transferred largely from the British Columbia Penitentiary in New Westminster during the next few months. The first groups will be mainly inmates to be employed in kitchen, cleaning and housekeeping duties.

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"Millhaven Prisoner Who Complained Won't See Mom, Dad For Awhile," Telegraph-Journal (St. John, New Brunswick). December 6, 1978. Page 1. --- OTTAWA (CP) A prisoner who complained publicly about the way guards at Millhaven, a maximum-security federal prison in Ontario, handle visitors and mail has been transferred to British Columbia.

The transfer means that Howard Brown, 33, who helped revive Millhaven's prison newspaper last summer, probably will not get any more visitors for some time. His parents live in Toronto.

Millhaven director Henry Neufeld said in an interview Tuesday that the transfer was in the works before Brown mailed a brief to members of Parliament and newspapers Sept. 29 criticizing the way visitors and mail were treated at Millhaven.

Neufeld denied that the brief led to the transfer but he would give no reasons why Brown was moved.

Neufeld told Horace Brown, Howard's father and a former Toronto alderman, that

Brown was transferred because he was "counterproductive."

"I think he's a victim of the fact that the prison system doesn't want to change," the elder Brown said in an interview.

The Browns visited their son regularly.

"Now we won't be seeing him at all. We didn't even know where to write him until we got his letter yesterday.

"I'm 70 and I'd like to see my son again."

The elder Brown believes his son would have been paroled by now if it had not been for his active role as a spokesman for prisoners.

His son believes the brief was behind the transfer.

Brown was placed in Millhaven's "hole" for two days in early October, after a news story about the brief appeared. Neufeld denied at the time that the brief was the reason. But prisoners who intervened on Brown's behalf said they were told by another officer that the brief was behind the locking-up of Brown.

The transfer took place a few days after Brown was questioned by lawyers Oct. 20 at Millhaven in a case against the prison based on its handling of mail and visitors.

Allan Manson, Brown's lawyer, said that neither he nor Brown knew then that the transfer would take place the next week. Brown's sparse belongings, including a dictionary given him by his father, were left behind at Millhaven.

Manson described the brief as "a healthy and constructive endeavor" to bring about change in the prison, troubled by violence since it was opened in 1971.

Brown was a founder of national prison justice day, in which prisoners fast every Aug. 10 as part of a peaceful battle for justice within the prison walls.

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"Prisoner says cross-country transfer result of Millhaven criticism," St. Catharines Standard. December 6, 1978. Page 34. --- By GERARD MCNEIL OTTAWA (CP) - A prisoner who complained publicly about the way guards at Millhaven, a maximum-security federal prison in Ontario, handle visitors and mail has been transferred to British Columbia.

The transfer means that 33-year-old Howard Brown, who helped revive Millhaven's prison newspaper last summer, won't get any more visitors for some time. His parents live in Toronto.

Millhaven Director Henry Neufeld said in an interview Tuesday that the transfer was in the works before Brown mailed a brief to members of Parliament and newspapers Sept. 29 criticizing the way visitors and mail were treated at Millhaven.

Neufeld denied that the brief led to the transfer but he would give be reasons why Brown was moved across the continent.

Neufeld told Horace Brown. Howard's father and a former Toronto alderman, that Brown was transferred because he was "counterproductive."

"I think he's a victim of the fact that the prison system doesn't want to change," the elder Brown said in an interview.

The Browns visited their son regularly.

"Now we won't be seeing him at all. We didn't even know where to write him until we got his letter yesterday.

"I'm 70 and I'd like to see my son again."

NO PAROLE The elder Brown said he believes his son would have been paroled by now if it hadn't been for his active role as a spokesman for prisoners.

"What he is doing now may not be for his own good but it's for the good of everyone in prison, including the administration. Some day, they'll recognize that."

His son believes the brief was behind the transfer.

Brown was placed in Millhaven's "hole" for two days in early October, after a news story about the brief appeared. Neufeld denied at the time that the brief was the reason. But prisoners who intervened on Brown's behalf said they were told by another officer that the brief was behind the locking-up of Brown.

The transfer took place a few days after Brown was questioned by lawyers Oct. 20 at Millhaven in a case against the prison based on its handling of mail and visitors.

Allan Manson, Brown's lawyer, said that neither he nor Brown knew then that the transfer would take place the next week. Brown's sparse belongings, including a dictionary given him by his father, were left behind at Millhaven.

BRIEF CONSTRUCTIVE Manson described the brief as "a healthy and constructive endeavor to bring about change in the prison, troubled by violence since it was opened in 1971."

Brown, one of Millhaven's originals, was a founder of national prison justice day, in which prisoners fast every Aug. 10 as part of a peaceful battle for justice within the prison walls.

Last summer he helped revive the prisoners publication, Odyssey, at Millhaven and was chairman of the Odyssey group. He also was a former member of the prisoners committee at Millhaven.

His brief, mailed Sept. 29, made specific allegations against the visiting and correspondence department at Millhaven.

Among them:

A man who came from New Brunswick was turned away by guards without seeing his brother in Millhaven; a woman and child who camped near Millhaven for a week were turned away after two visits although they had not seen their husband and father for six months: many prisoners hadn't been able to touch wives or children for years because of grills between them and visitors.

Neufeld said later the brief was 99 per cent lies and claimed Brown had admitted this. Correctional Commissioner Donald Yeomans added that the Odyssey group had nothing to do with the brief.

Brown, in a letter Oct. 9. denied this. He said that before he was thrown in the hole without explanation, a staff member had torn apart the brief in his presence. But he denied personally describing the brief as exaggerated or inaccurate.

He said the Odyssey Group, composed of long-term Millhaven prisoners, was concerned at the failure of government to implement recommendations made by a parliamentary subcommittee in June. 1976, after a tour of federal prisons.

ALLEGATIONS SIMILAR The allegations in Brown's brief were similar to those documented by the subcommittee, which had recommended a number of changes.

"The Odyssey Group felt it was time to start bringing some of the major problems that still exist to the attention of the public, in hopes the solicitor-general would be forced to implement programs needed to alleviate these problems," Brown said.

He couldn't understand why the brief had surprised the pris on administrators. The group had discussed it at regular Tuesday night meetings attended by a prison officer. Attempts to discuss the points with senior officers hadn't been successful so the brief was made public.

Brown said he never dis-cussed the brief with Neufeld.

"None of the prisoners named in the brief were ever interviewed by anyone in the administration, nor were their families contacted to verify their statements." Brown added.

"The administration received all its information from the officers in the visiting and correspondence office, and from no other source.

"The visiting and correspondence officers were a major target of criticism in the brief.

TELEPHONES ERRATIC Now Brown is in tumbledown British Columbia Penitentiary, whose telephone system is so erratic visiting hours are sometimes over by the time the visiting office finds a prisoner, MPs were told early in 1977.

"We don't know anybody in British Columbia," Brown's father said.

The parliamentary subcommittee recommended that wherever possible, prisoners be located within visiting distance of their families as an aid to rehabilitation.