Western Standard - September 21, 2025


Advocacy group says 'trans women' in women's prison is endangering female inmates

Topics
men in women's prisons
Mentioned
Daniel Senecal Charles Wadling Leeson Patrick Brazzo Yostin Marullo Bill C-63 Realistically Heather Vanier Kings
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Episode Stats


Length

13 minutes

Words per minute

149.44

Word count

1,990

Sentence count

135

Harmful content

Misogyny

16

sentences flagged

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

8

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, we discuss the case of Daniel Senecal, who was denied a transfer to a women's jail because he identifies as transgender. He was convicted of sexually assaulting a toddler, but was denied the transfer because he identified as a woman.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Hello, this is Jeremy Borg, a reporter for the Western Standard.
00:00:03.060 Today, we're going to have Heather Mason on. 1.00
00:00:05.180 Heather is a founding member of COSBAR, Canadian Women's Sex-Based Rights,
00:00:09.180 an organization that fights for women's sex-based rights under the Charter.
00:00:13.320 Heather, how's it going?
00:00:14.940 It's going good. How are you?
00:00:17.180 I'm good. I'm good.
00:00:18.820 So today we're going to be talking about the Daniel Senecal case,
00:00:22.540 where Daniel Senecal broke into somebody's home and sexually assaulted a toddler.
00:00:28.540 And recently, Daniel Senecal was denied a transfer to women's jail after requesting it
00:00:35.240 because Daniel Senecal identifies as trans.
00:00:37.980 What are your thoughts on that situation?
00:00:41.980 Honestly, the whole situation just blows me away that this happened
00:00:48.200 and that, like, that poor toddler.
00:00:52.860 It just infuriates me, but I am not surprised by this situation.
00:00:57.200 And I just want to make it clear, too, is that Daniel wasn't denied his transfer
00:01:04.760 because the policy changed.
00:01:06.800 He was denied because he is a repeat sex offender,
00:01:10.900 and this time the public was watching.
00:01:13.600 I don't believe that Daniel would have been denied his transfer
00:01:18.340 had the case not blown up the way that it did with the protests outside of the courthouse
00:01:25.680 and outside of the jail.
00:01:28.020 If the public wasn't watching, I would almost guarantee that he would have been able
00:01:33.220 to get a transfer into a woman's jail. 1.00
00:01:37.340 And we've seen instances of people abroad doing similar things.
00:01:42.060 There was a case in Germany recently where a known neo-Nazi has been requesting a transfer
00:01:47.780 into women's prison. 1.00
00:01:49.380 Are there situations here in Canada where things like that occur,
00:01:54.120 where the public isn't watching, and how frequent is it?
00:01:59.520 Yes.
00:02:00.220 So this has been going on in Canada for a while.
00:02:03.160 So a little background, I'm actually a formerly federal prisoner.
00:02:08.280 Like, I was incarcerated provincially and federally.
00:02:11.200 And while I was incarcerated, the transfer policy had changed.
00:02:14.840 So in the case of Daniel, we're talking about provincial.
00:02:18.260 He's not yet in federal.
00:02:20.060 Provincial is two years less a day.
00:02:21.700 Federal is two years plus a day.
00:02:24.140 So currently he's incarcerated in an Ontario provincial jail.
00:02:28.020 And they've had a transfer policy that's been in place since.
00:02:32.720 Realistically, it was gender identity or expression was added to the Ontario Human Rights
00:02:38.100 Code in 2012.
00:02:40.380 But they didn't start allowing the transfers to happen until 2015.
00:02:45.000 And mainly they kept them away from women in the jails. 1.00
00:02:48.180 And it wasn't until Bill C-16 was passed federally in 2017 that they really started
00:02:55.800 transferring the men in the provincial jails.
00:02:58.860 This is also when they started transferring the men in the federal prisons.
00:03:03.440 And there have been multiple cases.
00:03:05.560 Like, while I was incarcerated, there was men that were incarcerated with me.
00:03:08.840 Even when I was in the halfway house, there was men that were in the halfway house with 1.00
00:03:12.280 me.
00:03:13.140 And I've been advocating about this issue for the past six years.
00:03:17.020 And I found that the public doesn't really believe that it's happening because they don't
00:03:22.120 think the government would do something like that.
00:03:24.180 Like, I can remember being on the phone with my mom when I was in prison.
00:03:28.860 And I was like, Mom, there are men in here with us.
00:03:31.560 And she's like, No, there isn't.
00:03:32.880 They wouldn't do that.
00:03:33.840 And I'm thinking, Mom, I'm in here.
00:03:35.760 You're not.
00:03:36.320 Like, what do you mean?
00:03:37.600 And I've just encountered that same scenario over the years.
00:03:42.480 But yes, so Ontario has a transgender policy.
00:03:47.520 And it's already allowed dangerous sex offenders who identify as trans into women's jails. 1.00
00:03:53.140 There was just recently a case with Charles Wadling Leeson.
00:03:57.820 And he's convicted of sexually assaulting a teaching assistant at Met University in Toronto.
00:04:03.900 And he was transferred to a woman's jail, Vanier for women in Milton, Ontario.
00:04:08.540 And he was only moved back to the men's jail after engaging in inappropriate behavior that put women at risk. 0.97
00:04:16.300 There's also Patrick Parasol, a convicted sex offender, pathological liar. 0.74
00:04:21.480 He was also transferred to a woman's jail, Vanier again, I believe. 0.82
00:04:26.020 And he was transferred back to the men's custody once they realized the danger he posed to the incarcerated women there.
00:04:33.320 There's also, like, Yostin Marullo, who violently sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in Toronto.
00:04:45.640 And he was actually transferred to a woman's jail as well.
00:04:49.400 And he, when he was going through his trial, he didn't want the judge to know that he was identifying as a woman and was going by she, her pronouns and was in a woman's jail.
00:04:59.760 So there are tons and tons of cases of this happening in our jails and also in our prisons.
00:05:05.820 The difference with Daniel is that his case was denied up front, but that's because the public was watching.
00:05:13.740 With the other cases, the public was not aware and only became aware after they were transferred back to the men's jails.
00:05:21.900 Something interesting that I read in the news article that just came out about Daniel was that he was wearing green.
00:05:29.120 So green is institutional clothing that's issued to women. 1.00
00:05:33.900 Men wear orange.
00:05:35.020 So at Daniel's last court appearance, he was wearing female clothing.
00:05:39.800 So he's still actively showing, presenting himself that he's a woman, which I'm not surprised by at the least. 1.00
00:05:49.840 And you said that because Daniel was wearing green at the court appearance, he's still trying to identify as that.
00:05:57.280 How likely is it, do you think, that Daniel Senegal is going to be pushing to be transferred to a women's jail once he is charged federally?
00:06:08.220 So he actually still has recourse that he can pursue for this denial in the women's jail. 0.57
00:06:18.600 He can file grievances.
00:06:20.520 He can bring a human rights complaint on the basis of gender identity.
00:06:24.440 He can seek a judicial review in court.
00:06:27.780 But in reality, his chances are slim.
00:06:30.400 Like, I can't see the ministry going back and changing their decision because of the public attention that is on this case.
00:06:40.380 It makes it almost impossible for them to be able to backtrack.
00:06:43.440 Do I believe that once he is sentenced federally that he is going to try again?
00:06:49.340 Yes, I do think he's going to try again.
00:06:52.180 With the public attention of this case, I don't think that CSC is going to allow his transfer.
00:07:00.560 But like I said, he has recourse.
00:07:04.640 So it's all up to the courts and the judicial review of his case and whether or not he can show material circumstances that have changed.
00:07:17.680 He might say a whole, all sorts of things.
00:07:21.940 Who knows what he is going to say?
00:07:24.340 So my fingers are crossed that they continue to deny his transfer requests.
00:07:29.020 And in situations where men were put into women's prison while you were incarcerated, how did that impact the general body within these prisons?
00:07:40.880 It changes the whole dynamic, right?
00:07:43.720 So you now have men in there who are fully intact.
00:07:48.720 They're a lot stronger than you are.
00:07:51.220 They're threatening.
00:07:51.900 They're women that are really scared because it's different from fighting a woman and fighting a man. 1.00
00:08:00.820 They overpower us.
00:08:02.980 And also it causes lateral violence between the women because it pits women against each other. 1.00
00:08:08.980 There's a lot of men in there that basically will gain sexual favors from the women in exchange for canteen or they have their like the women fighting the other women. 1.00
00:08:23.700 And women don't want to tell because they don't want to be labeled a rat or they're scared of retaliation. 1.00
00:08:30.080 There have been pregnancies, there's been abortions, there's been criminal harassment, there has been all sorts of different dynamics in that prison and in these jails because they have been transferred into that environment.
00:08:47.460 And what would you feel is an adequate solution or way to deal with this problem of men identifying as female and transferring into women's prisons?
00:09:01.580 So there is space available in the men's prisons across Canada, like there are unused pods, wings and ranges where they could tailor those ranges and pods to the unique needs of those who identify as women.
00:09:20.260 And they could be safely incarcerated there where they will still have access to all the amenities of that men's prison, but they won't gain access to women or to the children that are living in the women's prisons because women's prisons have a mother child program where your child four years and under can live there full time. 0.85
00:09:41.580 So I think a safe alternative would be to have these trans areas, which there are prisons in the West that do have trans ranges already. 0.99
00:09:56.840 So I don't see why we can't continue that.
00:10:00.700 Mm hmm.
00:10:02.560 Is there anything else you feel that could sort of mitigate these problems going forward?
00:10:07.980 I know the federal government has been talking about altering bail legislation.
00:10:12.800 Do you think that would help with this problem?
00:10:16.800 I'm not sure how that would help with the problem because if they're in, they're going to want to be in women's prisons, right? 1.00
00:10:29.160 Like they, and a lot of the, what I find federally, of course, is that there are a lot of men who can't get parole or who have been in for decades and decades and aren't getting out.
00:10:41.040 So now their recourse is to go to a woman's prison where they have an easier time. 1.00
00:10:46.040 Um, they don't have to worry about, um, as much violence.
00:10:50.260 They have access to women. 0.99
00:10:52.620 Um, and actually something that I, uh, was told a long time ago when I was in jail and this reminds me of this.
00:11:01.120 Um, I was speaking to someone who was in protective custody and I was like, well, why are you in PC and not GP?
00:11:07.360 And they said, why would I be a peasant among Kings when I can be a King among peasants?
00:11:13.300 And that is the same scenario that we have here.
00:11:16.920 Why would these men who are convicted of sex crimes, who are peasants and who are at risk and men's prisons stay in a man's prison when they could go to a woman's prison and become the King. 0.69
00:11:30.160 Absolutely.
00:11:31.180 Uh, is there anything else you'd like to add?
00:11:32.880 Um, I would just like to add that I'm actually very surprised lately with the media in Canada that are picking up on these cases.
00:11:41.880 I was very, very surprised to read about the Toronto star when they reported on Charles, um, and that he was transferred to a woman's jail.
00:11:51.300 And I actually reached out to the journalist and was like, Hey, you're missing a critical piece to your article.
00:11:57.720 Because she didn't mention the charter challenge that was launched by Canadian women's sex-based rights.
00:12:03.920 They have launched a charter challenge with the help of JCCF.
00:12:08.280 And this is to challenge that the transfer policy for correctional service of Canada is actually violating the charter rights of the incarcerated women under section 7, 12, and 15.
00:12:20.000 So what I want people to know is that there are people out here trying to challenge this policy and show that it is a danger to women and it needs to be reversed.
00:12:29.000 Uh, and if anyone has any issues or would like to speak with you, what would be a good place to contact Cosbar or you at?
00:12:38.000 They should reach out directly to Cosbar.
00:12:41.000 You can send us an email at www.cawsbar.ca and that is Cosbar Canadian women's sex-based rights. 0.98
00:12:52.000 Your emails will get forwarded to me.
00:12:54.000 I'm also on X, so you can contact me there.
00:12:58.000 Um, but yeah, if you have been a victim or if you know of anything that is going on, you can report that directly to me.
00:13:09.000 Um, and it would help our charter challenge general.
00:13:12.000 So help protect the women that are inside right now. 0.92
00:13:15.000 Thank you so much for your time, Heather.
00:13:17.000 I appreciate it.