Academics pan decision to cut CEGEP education in Quebec’s federal prisons

Inmates in Quebec’s federal prisons will soon be deprived of post-secondary studies that had been offered for 52 years after Correctional Service Canada (CSC) decided to slash funding.

At the Cowansville federal prison, about 100 kilometres east of Montreal, the news was received with profound disappointment.

“People were mourning. Several people were crying,” professor Samuel Rochette said.

The psychology professor at Cégep Marie-Victorin, who also teaches in prisons, added that the most moving moment was when people stood up and explained how their studies had changed their lives.

As of June 30, CSC will suspend its funding for CEGEP education in federal prisons in Quebec.

Cégep Marie-Victorin was the last in the province to offer a pre-university program in social sciences to inmates at the Cowansville men’s and Joliette women’s institutions.

According to Rochette, around 60 inmates are enrolled in CEGEP courses at the Cowansville and Joliette facilities, but thousands have benefited from these educational services over the past few decades.

The program is so popular that some inmates are transferred to these two penitentiaries for the sole purpose of attending it.

There’s even a waiting list.

“This training allows inmates to feel competent outside of prison. And it gives them the feeling that they can be something other than just a ‘criminal,'” Rochette highlighted.

‘We do not accept the situation’

Louis Gendron, executive director of Cégep Marie-Victorin, said the decision makes no sense.

“It’s shocking. We’re completely shaken up,” Gendron said. “It’s in our DNA to serve and welcome populations of all kinds, with different needs.”

Gendron and a group of professors are preparing a letter that they plan to send to the federal and provincial ministers of public safety. Their hope is to get the federal government to walk back its decision.

“We do not accept the situation,” Gendron said.

The CEGEP’s board of directors also unanimously adopted a resolution on Wednesday evening condemning the decision and requesting that it be reviewed.

In a letter by the CEGEP sent to its staff impacted by the federal move, the administration said this partnership between the school and federal prisons has enabled hundreds of inmates to “regain confidence” and “successfully reintegrate into society.”

In an email to Radio-Canada, Correctional Service Canada confimed that contracts to offer post-secondary education programs will not be renewed in line with their “responsibilities provided for by law and main correctional priorities.”

This decision is part of a comprehensive review of expenses following $132 million in cuts imposed on CSC in the latest federal budget.

“CSC will continue to focus its efforts on education-related components, as required by law, as well as training that meets labour market needs and supports employment outcomes,” read the statement.

Inmates’ rehabilitation at risk, says researcher

For Frédérick Armstrong, researcher and UNESCO Chair in applied research for education in prison, CSC’s decision is “short-sighted,” “disappointing,” and will have negative consequences on several levels.

“If we do not prepare [inmates] with a range of services, including education, there is a risk that rehabilitation and social reintegration will be less successful,” Armstrong said.

He added that engaging prisoners in education also contributes to the mission of safety in correctional facilities.

“Keeping people busy doing something constructive takes away from the time they have to do things that are not constructive,” Armstrong explained.

Laurence Guénette, director of the Ligue des droits et libertés, an organization advocating for human rights, calls this move an “unacceptable new setback” for the rights of inmates and the continuation of a “process of dehumanization.”

“Prison conditions are already appalling. People in detention are deprived of their freedom, but they should keep their other rights, including the right to education,” said Guénette.

Armstrong and others are asking CSC to reconsider its decision to cut funds.

“The process by which an incarcerated individual comes to understand that they can be something different than a criminal or an offender, that they can be a citizen, a father, a friend, a student, is the key to hope,” Armstrong said.

“And if the program is no longer there, hope is no longer there.”