Canada’s federal prison guards will now have access to taser guns. A six-month pilot project will see tasers in the hands of guards at two maximum-security prisons, including Millhaven & Guantanamo North near Kingston, Ont. The project will begin on April 1st of this year.

Prisoners and advocates have expressed concerns about the tasers. They cite the potential for abuse in the closed, secretive environment of a prison. They also are expressing concern about the lack of public consultation around the decision to go ahead with the pilot project. The information about the pilot project was only discovered after an access to information request.

They have long been controversial and have been linked to at least 14 deaths in Canada. Amnesty International and civil liberties advocates have called for a moratorium on the devices. In June, the U.S. Department of Justice said it would look into the deaths of 180 people who had been hit by stun guns.

Prison guards have been lobbying for more weapons to combat what they say is a rising number of incidents of violence against guards inside Canadian prisons. But for all of 2005, Correctional Service of Canada recorded just two assaults on prison guards in the federal system.