Public Security Minister François Bonnardel has announced that Quebec will be placing inmates into prison according to their anatomical sex. This has been months in the making, as in late 2024, Mohamad Al Ballouz murdered a woman and his two children, and requested to be placed in the women's prison, claiming to identify as a woman. Correctional Services Canada eventually denied his request. .Previously in Quebec, inmates could request to be placed in the prison of the gender they identified as. Bonnardel says that the change being made now is due to security purposes. He reasons that, by doing so, the government is "ensuring equity in the treatment of all inmates in Quebec," the Montreal Gazette reported.."Safety must always come first, for the benefit of correctional officers, our fellow citizens, and incarcerated people," he said.The government reiterated that people will still be able to identify with the gender of their choice, and accommodations will be made that suit the circumstances and respect "their rights."A Montreal trans-advocate, Celeste Trianon, states that this change will "do nothing to actually increase public safety in prisons; it will only cause further harm to trans people.".Trianon argues the issue must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, noting there are only six transgender inmates in Quebec's provincial detention centres. She claims that it is flawed to exclude one group from "human rights protection on the basis of the general population's perceived comfort."
