A correctional officer is being investigated after he alerted the B.C. children's ministry about a woman who allegedly used her baby to smuggle drugs to an inmate, according to his union.

A guard who was reviewing prison records found a woman visiting an inmate at Matsqui prison in Abbotsford had tested positive for cocaine residue eight times, and her child had tested positive twice, all during a five-month period.

Terry Leger felt he had a moral responsiblity to report a pattern of positive drug tests on a woman and her child to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
(CBC)

The guard, Terry Leger, who had eight years of experience on the job, felt he had a moral responsiblity to report the pattern of incidents to the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

But when authorities at Correctional Service Canada found out, they launched a disciplinary hearing, alleging Leger breached inmate confidentiality when he made the report, according to Gord Robertson, president of the B.C. region of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.

"They felt it was a breach of the inmate's privacy that this officer had actually contacted social services," said Robertson, who called the investigation misguided.

It's wrong for an inmate's right to privacy to trump a child's right to safety, Robertson told CBC News on Wednesday morning.

"Realistically it [is] a very strong law that requires reporting when someone suspects child abuse and neglect. So in this case we feel it is absurd," said Robertson.

After the incident came to light, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said he wants to change prison policies to make sure children aren't being used to smuggle drugs into Canadian jails.

Nobody from Correctional Service Canada was available for comment.

With files from the Canadian Press