The Quebec case of convicted murderer Levana Ballouz has sparked a tense debate about whether trans inmates should be allowed to choose whether they serve time in men’s or women’s prison based on their gender identity.
A jury found Ballouz, a trans woman, guilty on Dec. 16 of fatally stabbing her partner Synthia Bussières, and suffocating their two children, five-year-old Éliam and two-year-old Zac in 2022.
During sentencing, the judge in the case described Ballouz as “sadistic”, “dangerous” and “manipulative.” She was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for at least 25 years.
Ballouz, 38, was known as Mohamad Al Ballouz at the time she was charged.
Once convicted, she made a request to serve her time in a federal women’s prison.
Last week, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) confirmed that Ballouz is currently being housed in a men’s prison despite her request.
The horrific circumstances of Ballouz’s crime have made her transfer request a flashpoint for debate.
Earlier this week, influential La Presse columnist Isabelle Hachey wrote a column headlined, “Mohamed Al Ballouz n’a pas sa place dans une prison pour femmes,” which translates to, “Mohamad Al Ballouz has no place in a women’s prison.”
After Ballouz’s transfer request was reported in December, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on the social media platform X, “I can’t believe I have to say this: but when I’m PM, there will be no male prisoners in female jails. Period.”
Trans activists and legal experts say it’s nowhere near that simple.
Policy changed overnight
CSC’s current policy says that inmates who self-identify as gender diverse “will be sent to the institution type (men’s or women’s) that better aligns with their gender identity or expression, if that is their preference, unless there are overriding health or safety concerns that cannot be resolved.”
Trans inmates didn’t always have that choice.
Previously, people were automatically assigned to men’s or women’s prisons based on their sex at birth.
Then, in 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked by a trans activist at a town hall meeting if he would consider changing the rules.
While at a town hall meeting in Kingston, Ontario, PM Justin Trudeau is asked about the treatment of transgender people in the prison system.
“I will make sure that we look at it, we address it and we do right in recognizing that trans rights are human rights,” Trudeau replied.
CSC changed its policy the following day, and since then, trans inmates have been able to request in which type of institution they’d like to serve their time.
Most provinces have since adopted similar policies at provincial jails, but some say the change happened too quickly.
“It was whimsically put into place in many ways,” Rosemary Ricciardelli, a professor of sociology and criminology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, told CBC.
“There was no preparation allowed. You can’t just flip a policy on a dime and not give people the time to train and to learn,” she said.
Ricciardelli believes it’s “naive” to assume that trans realities and concerns are equally understood across all regions of Canada.
“People come from all walks of life, from all places, with different degrees of exposure. Training is critical, with clear policies on what to train people on,” she said.
Those who work in prisons have struggled to adapt, according to Mathieu Lavoie, president of the SAPSCQ, the union that represents guards at provincial jails in Quebec.
“What we do in society in general does not necessarily translate to the prison environment because there are additional difficulties. There is a notion of security,” he told CBC in an interview.
Not much choice for trans inmates
People who work with trans inmates note that while the CSC’s policy appears to allow them to choose where they serve their sentence, in reality, there’s not much choice at all.
That’s because of that provision about overriding health and safety concerns.
“One of the major problems with the health and safety carve-out as it’s drafted is that it’s incredibly broad, and so literally, anything can become a health and safety concern,” Amy Matychuk, an Alberta-based lawyer, told CBC in an interview.
CSC’s policy does not spell out what particular health and safety concerns might be.
Matychuk said most placement and transfer requests based on gender identity are denied.
The latest data from CSC is for 2022-23.
Out of a total population of 13,000 offenders in federal custody, 12 of them made 19 total requests (some offenders made multiple requests) to be placed or transferred based on gender identity.
Of those requests, six were approved, 10 were refused and three withdrawn. The reasons for accepting or refusing a particular request are confidential.
Levana Ballouz, previously known as Mohamad Al Ballouz, was convicted in December 2024 of killing her partner and their two children. Ballouz is currently being held in a men’s prison but has asked to serve her time in a women’s prison.
“I think the current policy puts basically too much power in the hands of Corrections Canada to make decisions without real justifications or transparency,” Celeste Trianon, a trans activist and legal clinic operator in Montreal, told CBC.
Ricciardelli, for her part, said security concerns are important and that CSC is best suited to evaluate them.
“There’s always a push for transparency, but there’s also a need to respect those people who are incarcerated and give them their confidentiality and the privacy they deserve,” she added.
Safety risk or double standard?
Some lawyers who’ve represented trans inmates acknowledge safety can be an issue when considering where to place them.
“It is a challenge. I understand that transgender people have the right to be housed in a facility where they will be protected and where they will feel secure,” Sylvie Bordelais, vice-president of the association of prison lawyers of Quebec, told CBC.
“But I also understand the fact that some women don’t want to be housed with people that could hurt them.”
Lavoie, the president of the union that represents provincial jail guards, says inmates at the Leclerc women’s detention centre in Laval, Que., where Ballouz was detained during her trial, “have raised doubts or fears about trans prisoners who still have male sex organs.”
Lavoie said this summer, some trans inmates at the jail taunted and tried to intimidate guards during strip searches.
“Incarcerated people made certain comments towards female corrections officers by mentioning to them: ‘Well, it’s not so bad to see me naked, you see, it doesn’t bother you to see my genitals. You like seeing my genitals’,” Lavoie said.
People who work with trans inmates argue prisons are inherently violent places, and that it’s unfair to single out the small percentage of inmates who are trans as somehow posing a greater threat.
“No matter how violent a cisgender female offender is, they get to go to a women’s institution and there’s never a question about whether they might be violent toward their fellow inmates,” lawyer Matychuk said.
Trans activist Trianon said if there are safety concerns for any inmate, it’s up to CSC to manage them, while still respecting human rights.
“Safety concerns do not trump Charter rights and safety concerns need to adapt themselves around the Charter,” Trianon said.
“Something which is not very popular in Canadian society, yet we recognize that it’s important, is the fact that everyone, including the worst murderer out there, has Charter rights,” she said.
Ballouz is now at a federal prison for men, but it’s not clear if that’s a final decision.
“All offenders under federal jurisdiction undergo an intake assessment within 60 to 90 days following their admission to one of our institutions,” CSC said in an email to CBC.
“It allows us to determine the security level and the appropriate penitentiary placement based on the security of the public, the staff and other inmates,” the statement said.
CSC did not say if that assessment has happened yet for Ballouz.
Poilievre’s response ‘dehumanizing’
Trans activists say Poilievre’s response to the Ballouz case — to say that no male prisoners will serve time in female jails — is overly simplistic and hurtful to all trans people.
“It’s a full blown denial of identity,” Trianon said. “If you’re going to call trans women men, you’re first and foremost dehumanizing them, denying who they are, creating a licence to discriminate by completely erasing them.”
There are also legal questions about Poilievre’s response.
“I think that he may be a little bit overly confident about his ability to legislate that, given the Correctional Service of Canada has authority to make its own policy about things like this, and transgender people are protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act and arguably, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Matychuk said.
She’s filing a Charter challenge on behalf of a trans inmate against the current CSC policy, arguing the health and safety provision limits the rights of trans inmates.
The Conservative Party did not respond to CBC’s request for comment.
Trans-only prisons?
Some jurisdictions, including Italy and the U.K., have experimented with creating separate wings or even separate prisons reserved exclusively for trans inmates.
The Leclerc provincial jail where Ballouz was held during her trial also keeps trans inmates separate from other inmates where possible.
The jail guards union thinks trans-only prisons could be an improvement, but not everyone sees it that way.
“I think that has pros and cons to the extent that it might be safer for trans inmates. I think that that would be a positive aspect,” Matychuk said.
“But there’s also an extent to which you need to think about whether this outs people who are at significantly increased risk of violence if their identities are known,” she said.
Ricciardelli, for her part, says she’s never supported this option.
“If they made a decision, shouldn’t they be in the institution that matches them? And honestly, why are we assuming that people who change gender identity have something in common?” she said.
Trianon said many trans inmates who aren’t in a facility that matches their gender identity already suffer violence and isolation.
“The way to address it is not through further segregation,” Trianon said.
“It’s through actually focusing on rehabilitation, and taking the steps necessary to make sure there’s a healthy climate within prisons.”