TORONTO — Efforts to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Canada’s federal prisons have led to an increase in tensions that have prompted correctional officers to use force on at least two occasions in recent days, according to a prominent prisoner rights group.
Information from prisoners, the John Howard Society said, was that guards at the Donnacona maximum security prison in Quebec used tear gas and rubber bullets on inmates on Tuesday to quell unrest, leaving at least one injured.
In another incident, they said guards used percussion grenades at the medium security Collins Bay institution in Ontario. Severe virus outbreaks have occurred at the Jolliette prison in Quebec among other penal institutions.