Fight against systemic racism in prison wins all-party support
The Globe and Mail | Tom Cardoso, Crime and justice reporter | Janice DicksonPublished October 26, 2020 MPs from all parties on a House of Commons committee say they support studying systemic discrimination in federal prisons, including inmate risk assessments, days after a Globe and Mail investigation found these tools are biased against Indigenous and Black people. Jack Harris, the NDP’s public safety critic, said before a meeting of the public safety committee that a study is an “extremely high” priority after he introduced a motion that calls for “immediate measures to be taken to provide expeditious redress for systemic discrimination in federal prisons, including…
Letter to Hon. Doug Downey, Attorney General of Ontario
Campaign for the Abolition of Solitary Confinement June 1, 2020 Sent by email to: doug.downey@pc.ola.org Hon. Doug Downey Attorney General of Ontario Dear Mr. Attorney: Re: Solitary Confinement Now that Ontario is gradually returning to normal activities, we wish to raise with you our concerns, widely shared by the public, on the continued use of solitary confinement in corrections. Our aim is abolition, but we would hope to see major reforms achieved even short of that goal. We expect that the gross over-representation of Indigenous persons in solitary (already over-represented in the prison population) will not be curtailed short of legislation to abolish solitary. You are…
MPP introduces bill to end solitary confinement in Ontario
CBC News · Posted: May 09, 2019 4:00 AM ET An Ottawa MPP is introducing a private member’s bill designed to gradually eliminate the use of solitary confinement in Ontario’s correctional institutions. Ottawa-Vanier MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers wants to create a five-year plan to gradually phase out the practice. Before that happens, her bill, if passed, would also prohibit inmates from spending more than 60 days a year in solitary confinement, require medical staff to provide daily care to those inmates, and create an independent oversight body that would oversee the use of solitary confinement. At a news conference Wednesday at Queen’s Park, Des…
To Sylvia Jones, minister of correctional services (Ontario)
Hon. Sylvia Jones MPPMinister of Community Safety and Correctional ServicesFebruary 27, 2019 Dear Ms Jones We heartily endorse the call by Renu Mandhane, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, to end solitary confinement in Ontario. Since its inception in 2016, our organization has endorsed abolition. We do not see that partial measures will eliminate the horrendous injustices that occur. The over-representation of Indigenous inmates (already over-represented in the prison population), and use of solitary with the mentally ill and young have been known about for decades. Solitary should not be treated as a politically partisan matter. These cases (Ashley Smith and Adam…
Note: The following is the brief proposed by the Campaign for the Abolition of Solitary Confinement on the Ontario government’s Correctional Services Transformation Act, previously Bill 195, now Bill 6 after the prorogation and speech from the Throne.
This brief will be submitted at committee stage – the bill received first reading on March 20. We invite all who share our concern to co-sign the brief with us. Just send your Yes by email: info@abolishsolitary.ca Signers to date are: Mary Boyce, BA (hons) LLB, lawyer hon Ed Broadbent, CC, PC, PhD Paul Copeland, CM, LLB (Canon) Phyllis Creighton, OOnt, MA, editor Hon John Godfrey, PC, Dphil, special advisor on climate change, Ontario government Lynn McDonald, CM, PhD, LLD (hon), professor emerita Bev Swerling, M Ed, retired guidance counsellor, Toronto District School District Very Rev Hon Lois M. Wilson, CC, retired senator and former moderator, United…
Reply from Minister Lalonde
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional ServicesOffice of the Minister25 Grosvenor 18th floor Toronto ON M7A Tel: 416-325-0408 MCSCS.Feedback@ontario.caMC-2018-391 Apr 09 2018 By e-mail Dear Dr. McDonald and Colleagues: Thank you for your e-mail regarding recommendations for corrections reform. I appreciate the feedback provided and the collective insight which you and your colleagues have shared. Ontario is working hard to modernize the justice system to make it more accessible, efficient and responsive to the needs of people across the province. As part of this modernization, my ministry will continue to move forward with the changes that are necessary to transform Ontario’s correctional services to…