Pat Boudreau was just in his twenties when he arrived at Kingston Penitentiary (KP) as a correctional officer in 1982. By then, the foreboding maximum security prison on the banks of Lake Ontario had already been open for 147 years, earning a reputation for being home to some of Canada’s most infamous inmates. Pat stayed right up until KP closed in 2013.

What were some of your main duties as a correctional officer at KP, Pat?

Well, our job was to maintain the security of the institution, try and keep peace. So we’d do counts, do shift work, make sure everything was kosher and that there was nothing illegal going on. So there was all kinds of searching and different things like that.

Three decades is a long time to stay in any one job. Why did you stick around at KP for that length of time?

The years went by so fast, to tell you the truth. I moved from Dorchester, New Brunswick, where I worked as a correctional officer since ’77, to KP in 1982, started a family, moved a couple of times, built a house, stayed at KP. It really just progressed to a point where before you know it, we all got the letter and the notification on the news that we were done, KP was closing.

When you look back over your time at KP, what do you think about?

It’s remembering how staff responded when there were troubles. We become such a cohesive family. And it doesn’t matter who’s in trouble, it doesn’t matter if it’s a guard or a nurse or a shop instructor. When there’s somebody in need and we have to try to get them home — and we might get them home broken — but for us to get them home to their families, that was our number one priority. And we did that my whole career except for once, we lost a fellow officer. And a day never goes by that I don’t think of it.

Other than that unfortunate day, are there other particular stories that come to mind when you think back about your time at KP?

Some of the things that really stand out are hostage takings, and we had to shoot an offender and he died. That was back in the 1980s in the shop dome. The escape of Ty Conn, too, and I remember him writing on his calendar, “Gone Fishing.” So we go into his cell and we see that on his calendar, and he went fishing alright, he made a fool of us. I also tell a story that on Halloween at the Regional Treatment Centre, where I worked for the last few years, we would take in masks. And when we would do our last walk of the shift at 10 o’clock at night, we’d walk to the end of the range and when we’d come back, we’d have the mask on. It was always funny. But when things turned bad, we had to be guards. And you had to be able to switch that in a heartbeat.

Outside of getting your peers home safe every day, what were some of your other goals as a correctional officer? Did you see yourself as playing a role in the inmates’ rehabilitation?

You know, I never once used the word “rehabilitation” because we never believed in it. Thinking back of when I went to work every day, my goal was to get my peers home and to make things safe. Working at the Regional Treatment Centre was a different working environment, though. They were all mentally challenged, physically challenged, there was a sex offender unit there, and we all wanted to work there because there was a lot of job satisfaction there.

What was satisfying about working at the treatment centre?

Well, we could see the change in a lot of these guys once they took their medication. And they would call us by first name, and it became not personal because you never did trust them, but they looked up to you, they would ask for your help. I’ll never forget one night when one guy said to me, “Pat, are you workin’ tomorrow?” And I said, “Yeah.” And he said, “Would you wake me up in the mornin’, because we’ve got bacon on tomorrow and I don’t want to sleep through it.” I know a lot of guards would no way want to work in that environment, and when I started my career there was no way that I wanted to either. Not on your life. It just evolved to that.

Now that it’s over, do you miss the job?

Not a bit. I miss my peers a lot. But the job, not a bit. I don’t miss getting up in the morning and going in there and doing what we did best, not at all.

Why did you want to return to help out with the tours?

I wanted to do it because if I had an opportunity to help show her [KP] off the way she should be, I just wanted to give one little piece of what I knew. I just wanted to say it. We don’t talk about the blood and the guts and gore because, you know, some people want to hear that, but the majority don’t. They want to hear some fun stories, they want to hear how the jail worked. So that’s why we all wanted to join; we all wanted to give our little piece of it. Some guys were there in the 60s, some guys never started until the mid-80s, so we all have a different perspective on it.

Pat received this plaque when he retired from Correctional Service Canada in 2015. The wood is from Kingston Penitentiary and the key was once used to operate the main gate of the prison. “I am so proud of that plaque,” says Pat.
Planning to take the tour? Check out our special offers and accommodation packages here.

The 2020 Kingston Pen Tour season runs through October 31. Tickets and packages are on sale now.

Thrill seekers and scare fanatics will want to make their way to Kingston this month – with a bunch of haunted attractions and events running all throughout October, you’ll see why it’s the perfect place to get in the Halloween spirit.

Fort Fright

Halloween season just wouldn’t be the same without a visit to Fort Fright – and even if you’re of the ‘Been there, done that’ mindset, it’s worth noting that this haunted attraction just gets better and scarier every year. Terrifying new animatronics and special effects aside, this year is all about fears and phobias. Experience six “PhobiAreas” like death, decay, clowns, spiders, blood, and darkness. And of course, enjoy the Total Scare Packages for old favourites like Coffin Ride: Buried Alive, the Fort Fright Safe Pass and Overnight at Fort Fright.

Dates + Times

October 4–7  16: Thursday to Sunday, 7:00 – 10:00pm
October 11–14  16: Thursday to Sunday, 7:00 – 10:00pm
October 18 – 31: Nightly, 6:30 – 10:00pm

More Info

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Kingston Pen Tours

If you’ve been dying to get a peek of what’s inside the infamous walls of Kingston Penitentiary, find the package that works best for you and before you know it, you’ll be inside Canada’s oldest and most notorious maximum security prison. The guided Kingston Pen tours provide an intimate look at the Pen as an amazing historical building and a national historic site that predates Canadian confederation.

More Info

kingstonpentour.com

Ghost + Mystery Trolley

Being one of the oldest cities in Ontario means that Kingston has quite the treasure trove of scary stories and hauntings to share, from the horrors of Kingston Penitentiary, the child deaths at Bellevue House to the fair maiden ghost of Cedar Island.

And what better way to find out the answers to terrifying questions like what happened when graves were robbed in Skeleton Park and why you can still stumble upon them today, and why grass won’t grow at the foot of Sir John A. Macdonald’s tomb that with a Ghost and Mystery Trolley Tour? Departing nightly from the Visitor Information Centre at 209 Ontario Street, this tour takes you all around downtown Kingston, Fort Henry, the Cataraqui Cemetery, Rockwood Asylum and Kingston Pen!

Dates + Times

Until October 31: Wednesday – Sunday at 6:00pm

More Info

kingstontrolley.ca

The Haunted Walk of Kingston

There really is no better time to experience spooky ghost stories told by award-winning storytellers than Halloween – and luckily for you, The Haunted Walk of Kingston has a few stories and tours to choose from.
You can experience the classic Haunted Walk, which takes you through Kingston’s old Sydenham Ward and features haunted hotels, hidden burial grounds, grave robbings, hangings at the courthouse and Kingston’s famous haunted courtyard. Or, try the Haunted Walk experience at Fort Henry (as seen on Ghost Hunters) where you can explore the 19th-century fortress as your guide details its tragic history. 

More Info

hauntedwalk.com

Improbable Escape’s Coroner’s Report

If you like to think as much as you like to be scared, then Improbable Escape’s Coroner’s Report is for you. The premise: the doctors at Ambrosia General Hospital have been put under a microscope after some strange happenings inside the hospital – some people have gone missing, and it’s been discovered that the doctors were using live bodies for medical research. You and your friends decide that you want to explore the abandoned hospital… but will you survive and escape?

Intriguing, no? It’s worth noting that the Coroner’s Report has an extreme content warning, and is for those aged 16+.

More Info

improbableescapes.com

2018 Kingston Zombie Walk

It’s that time of year again where, for one fleeting afternoon, you can forget that you’re a member of the living and embrace your inner zombie.
Meet the rest of your comrades at McBurney Park (rain or shine) and prepare to freak out the normies as you make your way through downtown Kingston for the 10th annual Zombie Walk. It’s a free, all-ages event, but in support of the Kingston Youth Shelter, the Walk asks zombies to bring along non-perishable food items. 

Dates + Times

October 20: 1:00 – 3:00pm at McBurney Park

If you haven’t had a chance to get inside Kingston Penitentiary yet, you better get on it — tours of Canada’s oldest and most notorious maximum-security prison are back and tickets are on sale now! Be sure to also check out the awesome accommodation packages available for a stay in Kingston.

In the meantime, here are seven things you might not have known about Kingston Pen (KP) to get you ready.

 

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Women and Children First

While KP was known for its infamous male inmates (e.g., Paul Bernardo, Clifford Olson, Russell Williams), it was also once home to women and children. In fact, women were incarcerated there from year one — 1835 — until 1934, although they were segregated from the male population. One female inmate, Grace Marks, was the inspiration for Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace. Children were also sent there in the early days. Eight-year-old Antoine Beauche was the youngest of them, imprisoned for his role in a pickpocket operation aboard a steamboat on the St. Lawrence River.

Canada’s Dumbest Inmate?

Around 1847, one former inmate actually broke into KP. It was a few days before Christmas, and he had no money, but, having worked for KP’s deputy warden, he knew where to find the prison’s petty cash. So, he got a ladder, climbed to the top of the Pen, and lowered himself down over the wall. He got the money and tried to climb back up the rope, but it broke. The next morning, KP had one more inmate than it should have had, and that inmate got 18 more months behind bars.

1971 Riot: A Writer’s Muse?

The four-day riot in April 1971 was the worst in KP’s history and resulted in two inmate deaths and six guards being held hostage. The inmates’ stated reasons for dissent included a lack of recreational time, lack of work and concerns about their future at Millhaven Prison. But according to former inmate Wayne Ford, there was another reason: “That whole thing was started by William (Billy) James Knight, a guy doing his third bit. William was writing a book, and the only experience he was missing from the book was a riot. So he got some other guys and started one. Crazy, huh?”

Location, Location, Location

KP’s location was chosen after Hugh Thompson, editor of the Upper Canada Herald, wrote to the government in 1826, recommending that a penitentiary be built in his rapidly growing town of Kingston. They eventually listened, buying 100 acres two miles beyond the town’s western border, which was considered far enough from the population but close enough to conduct business. They also chose the location because it combined “the advantages of perfect salubrity, ready access to the water, and abundant quantities of fine limestone.”

What the Dickens?

Charles Dickens visited Kingston and the penitentiary in 1842, and wrote in his American Notes for General Circulation, “There is an admirable jail here, well and wisely governed, and excellently regulated, in every respect.” He went on: “Here at Kingston is a penitentiary, intelligently and humanely run.” Apparently, he wasn’t privy to the brutal conditions prisoners actually endured then. Eight-year-old Antoine Beauche, for instance, was lashed 47 times in nine months for breaking in-house rules that included staring, laughing, whistling, giggling and idling.

The Silent Treatment

Some of those early brutal conditions were outlined in the rules and regulations of the institution, published on October 22, 1836. Among them, is a stipulation for inmates to “preserve unbroken silence,” meaning they “must not exchange a word with one another under any pretence whatever.” They also could not “exchange looks, wink, laugh, nod or gesticulate to each other.” And when the bell rang for them to go to the mess hall, they had to come out of their cells “in regular order and march with their faces inclined [in one direction].” For disobeying, this final threat: “Corporal punishment will be instantly inflicted.”

Hemingway’s First Day

On September 11, 1923, on his first day as a reporter with the Toronto Daily Star (now the Toronto Star), 24-year-old Ernest Hemingway was sent to KP to cover a dramatic jailbreak that occurred the day before. His 2,600-word report detailed the daring escape of five inmates, including burglar Norman “Red” Ryan, who Hemingway described as a “thick, freckle-faced man whose prison cap could not hide his flaming head.” Ryan was caught almost a year later while picking up his mail in Minneapolis. He was sent back to Kingston to face 30 lashings and life in prison.

Visit Kingston Penitentiary to see where these stories and many others took place. Tickets are on sale now at kingstonpentour.com and you can book your Kingston Pen packages here.