Matsqui Institution

No one has reviewed Matsqui yet? Surely I’m not the only Unilocaler who has spent time in this particular prison. It’s only medium security.
I wasn’t there for the reason you’re thinking. My work has put me in some interesting situations (like the time I almost got into fisticuffs with Pierce Brosnan.) I ate the food at Matsqui and checked out the accommodations and spent time with the inmates, staff, Corrections Officers and Warden so here’s my review. And it’s not pretty (although Kent was much much worse.)
Unlike Kent Institution which was darker and more foreboding
Matsqui seemed brighter. I think it’s because of the use of chain link as opposed to the ubiquitous turquoise cinder block of Kent. If it weren’t for the miles of fencing, barbed wire and the smell this prison could pass for a college campus.
The facility is surrounded by two parallel rows of barbed wire fencing with about 12 feet of no man’s land between them. Guard towers loom in seemingly random intervals. One of these towers was old and no longer in use. We climbed the metal staircase and entered. There were ashtrays and old binders, chairs, desks, dead insects and smudged windows. From the courtyard it’s almost impossible to see if the towers are manned or not. In fact many looked vacant. When I asked the Warden if they are manned at all times he refused to answer.
Covered outdoor walkways connect the various wings. To the left was a small exercise yard with a chain link roof. While the fencing does allow light in they resemble large kennels for humans. It’s unnerving. We were there on a very hot and sunny day but I imagined how miserable this place would be in the rain.
Without help from the Warden we would have gotten lost at every turn. It’s like a maze. It’s probably deliberate. Even the most mundane things in prison have a reason for being that way. It appears to me that they’ve thought of every contingency. Bad things still happen and I got the impression it’s a constant struggle between the inmates and CO’s as they try to stay one step ahead of each other.
The segregation units are about 5 feet wide by approx. 8 feet long. Steel doors with narrow slots wide enough to fit a tray of food seal you in with a thud. The walls are made of cinder block and painted turquoise (what’s with the turquoise?) Often pasted over them were drawings or magazine clippings. Each room has a narrow vertical window made of scratched stained yellowing plexi that allows dingy light in on sunny days. There are steel bars on both the inside and outside that obstruct all but the slimmest cloudiest view of the courtyard. The sinks are very small and mounted to the wall. They are old, the porcelain is invariably chipped and prisoners usually line their toiletries along the lip.
There’s a bunk bed and across from it a table bolted to the wall with a stool attached. Most of the time the tables have books and magazines, mementos, cigarettes and ashtrays neatly placed on them. I didn’t see any of seg. units with two occupants but apparently it does happen. Inmates are sent to segregation or «The Hole» for a variety of reasons. Not always for infractions. They spend 23 hours a day in these cells. Some for months at a time. The inmate we photographed had been there a month. He would stay another 24 days.
We visited GenPop. The cells themselves seemed similar. The inmates have more possessions so they appeared darker, more cluttered, cramped & lived in. Here the inmates are afforded time out of their cells to eat in the cafeteria etc. We cut through the gym. It was quite big. Most inmates were seated on benches chatting or lifting weights.
We arrived at the communal visiting room. It was empty and eerily quiet. Wood tables are bolted to the floor surrounded by plastic chairs. There is an outdoor patio off the visiting area. Posted are signs that read «No crouching, squatting or folding arms». There’s a specific posture commonly used to discreetly pass drugs and other contraband to inmates. The Warden mimes the maneuver as he explains it to me.
Atop the tables at Kent were wooden boxes built into the tabletops. I asked one of the guards there what they were and he said they contained microphones. I don’t trust CO’s. I learned they like to make shit up just to screw with you. I didn’t see any recording devises here.
The Corrections Officers were friendly but professional. They didn’t walk around with a chip on their shoulder like a couple I encountered at Kent. They joked around with some of the prisoners and gave threatening glances to others. The Warden seemed quite avuncular and had a sense of humour. Despite the friendly staff I have to give Matsqui one star. I still encourage you to misbehave but not to the extent that you end up here. It is a miserable place and I’m relating a very sanitized view of it.