A correctional officer employed at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon said he’s fed up with some managers abusing their power within the penitentiary.

“Bullying starts the second you walk into that institution,” the guard said.

CTV News has chosen to hide the identity of the officer, who’s the second guard to recently speak about the culture inside the RPC.

He said new officers are automatically bullied and considered “less than” veteran officers.

“It’s a mentality of ‘You need to prove yourself first before you’re welcome.’ That’s just a culture that exists within corrections,” he said.

According to him, some managers will take away opportunities for advancement or move guards to unappealing posts.

“You end up getting assigned the dirtiest cells all the time. Or else you end up searching every single day,” he said.

“If you happen to have a decent post, sometimes that gets taken away and given to whoever the manager likes.”

Correctional Service Canada told CTV News that, over the last year, several allegations of harassment, bullying, intimidation and discrimination came to its attention and many initiatives have since been put in place. For instance, Corrections has expanded its 24/7 anonymous tip line and created a generic email for employees to report misconduct.

“All information received through the tip line or generic email address is thoroughly reviewed to ensure matters are addressed regardless of the source. We assess all information to determine the best course of action and whether an investigation is warranted,” a CSC spokesperson said in an email.

But the guard said it hasn’t been very helpful.

“I know there have been a few officers that have called the tip line and emailed and months pass and they still haven’t received a call,” he said.

The Corrections email goes on to say that employee safety is a fundamental priority and that a number of control measures — such as training, personal protective equipment, infrastructure, engineering and controlled response protocols — have been designed to mitigate risk. And, yet, the guard said he feels expendable and has lost confidence in his employer.

Outside agencies make job harder, officer says

“When organizations like the Elizabeth Fry and John Howard societies go to bat for inmates to try to make us look bad and then rules change because of that, it’s tough for us to do our jobs safely,” he said.

Last December, an Ontario judge ruled long-term segregation in Canadian prisons was unconstitutional, after critics said it can cause serious psychological harm to inmates. Segregation, also known as solitary confinement, entails an inmate spending up to 23 hours a day in isolation without any meaningful human contact.

In August, CSC made changes to its segregation policy regarding inmates with serious mental illnesses. Now it is only to be used “when specific legal requirements are met.”

“These are dangerous people that we’re housing, so for an outside organization to come in and try to tell us that we’re doing it wrong or that these people are good people and the reason they’re bad is because of what we’re doing, I just don’t believe that’s fair,” he said.

He said the changes not only make his job more difficult, but it’s created a poor public perception of his role as a correctional officer.

“I guess I would just like the public to know before they judge us into thinking that we’re the bad guys, they gotta remember that we’re dealing with murderers, people that rape people, and it’s just the nature of the job,” he said.

“People are bad. Not everybody is going to change. There are horrible people out there, and while they’re at home safe, we’re dealing with them every day.”