Overview

• The board’s report found that on May 19, 2024, inmate Martin Charest fatally assaulted 74-year-old Robert Pickton with a broken broom handle during medication distribution at Quebec’s Port-Cartier Institution.
• Investigators interviewed 35 prison staff and an independent observer, uncovering that cleaning tools were stored in unlocked areas and freely accessible to inmates.
• The report outlines three recommendations, notably the installation of locks on cleaners’ storeroom doors within unit common rooms.
• The Correctional Service of Canada has begun securing cleaners’ storerooms and reviewing tool-control policies in response to the report’s findings.
• No criminal charges have been filed in relation to the assault and the Quebec Coroner’s Office has yet to submit its findings.