Latest news with #KentInstitution
CTV News
08-07-2025
- CTV News
‘It is a warning': Former Pickton warden urges other prisons to learn from murderer's killing
Correctional Service Canada says an unnamed inmate has been injured in what it's calling a major assault at the Port-Cartier Institution located on Quebec's north shore. Patches are seen on the arm and shoulder of a corrections officer in the segregation unit at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women during a media tour, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A year after a fatal prison attack on a notorious B.C. serial killer, one of his past jailors is urging corrections officials to heed the findings of an investigation into the incident. The Correctional Service of Canada quietly published the report on a Friday afternoon without distributing a press release, fully accepting the three recommendations stemming from Robert 'Willie' Pickton's death after he was stabbed in the face with a broken broom stick last year. A former warden at the Kent Institution maximum security prison in the eastern Fraser Valley is concerned that the lessons of the past aren't being learned – and that Pickton's death is proof of that. 'This is not the first time somebody has broken a broomstick and used it as a weapon,' said Mark Kemball, who has now retired from decades working in the correctional service. 'What was the policy at the time related to those types of materials, and did (the Corrections Service of Canada) follow them?' He pointed out that unsecured janitorial supplies and equipment endanger prison staff as well as other inmates and urged other facilities to take this as a wake-up call. 'It is a warning to other facilities,' to make sure they have proper protocols around cleaning supplies, but also to ensure their paperwork is up to date, Kemball said. The Board of Inquiry report found the 'structured 45-day casework records for both inmates involved in the incident were not in compliance with policy, despite their importance in the assessment of inmate progress.' Kemball said those reports can be vital in identifying changes in behaviour or conflicts between inmates before they escalate to violence. The BOI made three recommendations, including ensuring next of kin contact information is up to date, since there had been issues reaching Pickton's family after he as attacked in May of last year. The 74-year-old had been serving out his life sentence in the maximum security Port Cartier Institution in Quebec, and died in hospital from his injuries two weeks after the assault. 'All recommendations have been accepted and work is underway to implement them as we work towards making our institutions safer for all of our employees, inmates and visitors,' reads a statement from Corrections Canada. While Pickton is one of the most reviled serial killers in Canadian history – convicted of murdering six women and suspected of killing dozens more –there were expressions of grim satisfaction after his death from his victims' families. No one has been charged in Pickton's death, despite a police investigation by the Sûreté du Québec.
Vancouver Sun
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Convicted murderer challenges B.C. prison's policy on Mein Kampf, other controversial books
Article content A convicted murderer who kept his victim's severed head in a bucket claims prison authorities in British Columbia are wrongfully withholding books he has acquired during his life sentence, including Hitler's 'Mein Kampf.' Article content Article content Mihaly Illes was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011 for the death of Javan Dowling, a drug-trade associate who was shot four times in the back of the head in April 2001 before his body was dismembered and disposed of in Squamish, B.C. Article content Article content Illes filed an application in the Federal Court of Canada in March after exhausting prisoner grievance procedures, claiming authorities at Kent Institution in Agassiz, B.C., wrongfully withheld 19 non-fiction books when he was transferred there in 2022. Article content Article content Article content Documents filed in court show the books include Machiavelli's 'The Prince on the Art of Power,' Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War,' Adolf Hitler's autobiography 'Mein Kampf,' 'The 48 Laws of Power,' 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,' 'The CIA as Organized Crime,' 'The Lie that Wouldn't Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' as well as biographies of Alexander the Great, Hitler and Napoleon. Article content Article content Article content Prison authorities put the books in storage and deemed them 'unauthorized materials' covered by a Correctional Service of Canada Commissioner's directive outlining offenders' access to 'expressive materials.' Article content Inmates are generally allowed access to books and other materials, but limitations include 'material that supports genocide, promotes a theory of racial superiority or incites hatred toward any identifiable group or subpopulation,' the directive states.
Edmonton Journal
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Convicted murderer challenges B.C. prison's policy on Mein Kampf, other controversial books
Article content A convicted murderer who kept his victim's severed head in a bucket claims prison authorities in British Columbia are wrongfully withholding books he has acquired during his life sentence, including Hitler's 'Mein Kampf.' Mihaly Illes was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011 for the death of Javan Dowling, a drug-trade associate who was shot four times in the back of the head in April 2001 before his body was dismembered and disposed of in Squamish, B.C. Article content Article content Documents filed in court show the books include Machiavelli's 'The Prince on the Art of Power,' Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War,' Adolf Hitler's autobiography 'Mein Kampf,' 'The 48 Laws of Power,' 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,' 'The CIA as Organized Crime,' 'The Lie that Wouldn't Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' as well as biographies of Alexander the Great, Hitler and Napoleon. Prison authorities put the books in storage and deemed them 'unauthorized materials' covered by a Correctional Service of Canada Commissioner's directive outlining offenders' access to 'expressive materials.' Inmates are generally allowed access to books and other materials, but limitations include 'material that supports genocide, promotes a theory of racial superiority or incites hatred toward any identifiable group or subpopulation,' the directive states. Article content Correctional Service of Canada policy and regulations also allow prison officials to limit offenders' access to materials if they believe they would contribute 'to an unhealthy working and living environment' or if they 'would jeopardize the security of the penitentiary or the safety of any person.' Illes' lawyer, Sam Williams, said in an email that his client is a Hungarian national of Jewish descent. Williams said he would try to contact his client for a statement, but there was no reply in time for publication. The Correctional Service of Canada and Kent Institution also did not provide comment for this story by press time. Illes' application says the prohibition on him possessing the books is unreasonable and procedurally unfair, and he wants 'an order requiring the Correctional Service of Canada to allow the applicant to maintain possession of the books.' Article content Illes successfully challenged his transfer from a medium-security prison in Alberta to a maximum security facility in Manitoba in 2016 in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The Alberta court ruling says he'd been placed in segregation in May 2015 'after being found in possession of possible narcotics, two stabbing weapons and numerous unauthorized items.' He was again placed in segregation in January 2016 'for his involvement in the institutional subculture and attempts to introduce contraband into the institution.' The court ruling says Illes is eligible for full parole in November 2026 and will be ordered deported back to Hungary upon release. The Correctional Service of Canada has announced numerous seizures of contraband and unauthorized items at prisons in B.C. and elsewhere this year, including 'unidentified pills and other drug paraphernalia, several homemade weapons, and tattoo paraphernalia' at Abbotsford's Matsqui Institution after a lockdown this month. Latest National Stories
National Post
28-04-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Convicted murderer challenges B.C. prison's policy on Mein Kampf, other controversial books
A convicted murderer who kept his victim's severed head in a bucket claims prison authorities in British Columbia are wrongfully withholding books he has acquired during his life sentence, including Hitler's 'Mein Kampf.' Article content Article content Mihaly Illes was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011 for the death of Javan Dowling, a drug-trade associate who was shot four times in the back of the head in April 2001 before his body was dismembered and disposed of in Squamish, B.C. Article content Article content Illes filed an application in the Federal Court of Canada in March after exhausting prisoner grievance procedures, claiming authorities at Kent Institution in Agassiz, B.C., wrongfully withheld 19 non-fiction books when he was transferred there in 2022. Article content Article content Documents filed in court show the books include Machiavelli's 'The Prince on the Art of Power,' Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War,' Adolf Hitler's autobiography 'Mein Kampf,' 'The 48 Laws of Power,' 'The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,' 'The CIA as Organized Crime,' 'The Lie that Wouldn't Die: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' as well as biographies of Alexander the Great, Hitler and Napoleon. Article content Article content Article content Prison authorities put the books in storage and deemed them 'unauthorized materials' covered by a Correctional Service of Canada Commissioner's directive outlining offenders' access to 'expressive materials.' Article content Article content Inmates are generally allowed access to books and other materials, but limitations include 'material that supports genocide, promotes a theory of racial superiority or incites hatred toward any identifiable group or subpopulation,' the directive states. Article content Correctional Service of Canada policy and regulations also allow prison officials to limit offenders' access to materials if they believe they would contribute 'to an unhealthy working and living environment' or if they 'would jeopardize the security of the penitentiary or the safety of any person.'
