Open Letter to Solicitor General Sylvia Jones

Dear Solicitor General Sylvia Jones,

The overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples within the criminal justice system today reflects the continuation of the colonial violence that occurred across what is now known as Canada. In 2021, nearly 30% of all prisoners in Canada were Indigenous, even though Indigenous people make up less than 5% of Canada’s total population. The effects of this overrepresentation. are omnipresent in many Indigenous peoples' lives. As explained by one Indigenous prisoner: “The government plays a cruel and unfortunately usual game with the lives of those in criminalized communities. The system made me feel like I was doing something wrong before I did any wrong. Would I be in this predicament if I hadn’t lived in a marginalized community or if my friends and I weren’t constantly harassed by police? The government’s agenda is quite clear. They are trying to widen the gap between the rich and the poor and between white people and Black and Indigenous people.”

The blatant neglect of prisoners and their wellbeing before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Ontario government and the solicitor general, Sylvia Jones, is disheartening and a violation of the rights of some of Ontario’s most vulnerable communities, many of whom are Indigenous. As explained by an Indigenous person who has spent time inside a prison: “You can’t forget your time inside. I know what it feels like to be isolated from humanity, to not have the physical touch of another human…Refusing the basics of life [such as] a shower, good drinking water, good food. This has been going on for so long.”

The lack of access to necessities has been exacerbated during the pandemic by the utilization of 23-hour lockdowns; where prisoners must choose between having a shower or using the phone to stay connected to loved ones, lawyers, and other support people. In addition to these extreme measures inside, Indigenous people are consistently denied cultural practices while incarcerated, “They are being denied cultural services inside, we can smudge freely out here, that’s denied inside…they need access to culture.” As noted by an Indigenous prisoner at the Toronto South Detention Center, “Spiritual and religious supports at the South are scarce. The spiritual or religious support workers are almost never available to see us. Correctional officers are often ignorant and difficult when people ask for spiritual supports, especially when it comes to the needs of Indigenous people.” Access to cultural practices and medicines are life-saving interventions for our Indigenous kin inside jails and prison.

Not only is there a lack of cultural support but a lack of general support as well, according to another prisoner inside during COVID, “Programming essential to our mental health has been canceled indefinitely. Visits from family or friends are prohibited. There aren’t any education opportunities…There are few opportunities in prison to learn life skills, financial literacy, or anything that could help people upon their release.”

This lack of support continues after release; “Prisoners are discriminated against based on our prisoner status and are released back into the community without direction or resources. If the government intentionally criminalizes someone who is poor or racialized, stacking the odds against them to make sure they end up in prison, it’s not surprising that the government would also fail to assist them upon release – hence, the vicious cycle of people going into and out of jail. People feel like they are fighting an endless battle that will never be won.”

Prisons and jails ruin people’s lives. We hear first-hand from prisoner’s how defeated they feel: “All of this makes us feel like we are just a dollar sign and that our lives don’t matter, that we are not worthy of choice or expression.” People feel like they have no hope and are left feeling like the system has abandoned them, “We feel that we've been put into a corner waiting for random executions to occur. We feel that we have to fight for our lives against a system that doesn't care about us.”

While incarceration, and the lack of supports both before and during COVID, affects people of all races, ethnicities and identities, Indigenous people are disproportionately suffering under the carceral system in Ontario. As such, we demand that Sylvia Jones, and the government of Ontario, take immediate action to improve the access to supports and cultural services for all incarcerated Ontarians, with specific attention paid to incarcerated Indigenous people.

For media inquires please email:

torontoprisonersrights@gmail.com

In Response to Shelter-Hotel Closures Throughout Toronto

In response to the City of Toronto’s plan to close some shelter-hotels TPRP sent a letter to each city councilor, the mayor and other stakeholders to demand that these sites stay open to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable communities. The letter states the following:

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022
RE: Shelter Closures Throughout Toronto 

Dear Councilors and Mayor Tory, 

We are writing to you today from the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project (TPRP). TPRP was created in December 2019 as a response to the increasing gaps in support and care provided to individuals impacted by incarceration as well as those who are currently incarcerated. TPRP is a volunteer organization of former prisoners, people with loved ones inside, activists, front-line workers, artists, researchers, educators and students. We engage in direct action, public education, and mutual aid to shed light on the harms caused by incarceration and connect prisoners with social, financial, legal and health supports. We are committed to abolition and building sustainable communities rooted in community care, transformative justice, and accountability. Our members operate throughout the Greater Toronto Area and represent each of our cities’ wards.  

Our organization acknowledges that we stand on the traditional territory of many Nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabek, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples which is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. This territory is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit and the “Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant", a treaty between the Anishinaabek, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers, have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect. Living on this territory makes all people in the City of Toronto/Tkaronto Treaty peoples, including those who come as settlers, or immigrants of this generation or earlier generations, including those brought involuntarily as a result of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade.

The reason we have reached out is in regard to the upcoming closures of several shelter-hotel sites. In recognition of the aforementioned land respects, it should be strongly noted that “houselessness” was not an issue in pre-colonial times. The current housing crisis in Toronto should result in immediate action to protect the most marginalized and vulnerable individuals in our community. With that being said, we are grateful that the City opened up a large number of temporary shelter-hotel sites to navigate the pandemic for our communities who are homeless. These spaces saved lives, and provided temporary stability for hundreds of people. To hear that a number of them will be closing is distressing and will disproportionately impact the community that we directly serve - those impacted by incarceration.

Up to 30% of individuals experiencing incarceration in Canada have no home to return to once they are released. As such, recently released prisoners represent a large portion of Toronto’s homeless community due to the lack of support they receive prior to and after their release. They are also at much higher risk of experiencing an overdose or dying from an overdose post-release as their tolerance for substances decreases during incarceration. Further, given the criminalization of homelessness and poverty, people who have been released may also face the risk of re-criminalization, heightened police surveillance and re-incarceration as a result of reduced access to shelter and safe housing. In turn, the impending shelter closures risks significantly undermining peoples’ safe return and reintegration into their respective communities. Without shelters for our incarcerated kin to find solace in post-release, how will the City ensure the safety of this community? Where will the City invest the money they save from closing these shelter sites to ensure that people are not dying cold and alone on the streets? Through a series of intertwined policy decisions, the City has constructed a cycle of incarceration and homelessness for some of our most vulnerable communities. However, as the City provokes in their Toronto for All initiative, “The first step is one that we all must take – do we want to include our most vulnerable, or ignore them? Which Toronto do we want to be?”

The impacts of criminalization, carceral violence and systemic poverty disportionately harm Black, Indigenous and other marginalized communities specifically. As such, the shelter closures exacerbates existing violences and inequalities which Black, Indigenous and other marginalized communities will bear the brunt of once again. This is contrary to the City’s alleged commitments to racial and social justice as well as its mandates and obligations to protect public interests, which we remind City Councilors and the Mayor includes Black, Indigenous, racialized and all other marginalized communities.

The recommendations to double-bunk people and move congregate dorm beds closer together are narrow-sighted and dangerous. We are still amidst a pandemic and as illustrated within our jails and prisons, we know that double-bunking has created consistent outbreaks of COVID-19 within these institutions. Moving beds together - especially as another COVID variant is near - is dangerous and puts people’s health at risk. Not just the residents, but all the staff alike. People are worthy of respect, dignity and privacy. Folks entering the shelter system because they have no other option are worthy of their own room and space to decompress and self-regulate. People should not have to enter prison-like conditions upon their release or while fleeing other harm. Individuals will not feel safe or comfortable within these spaces and will opt to sleep rough. 

These recommendations will result in more large encampments in the City again. The City was so adamant on evicting encampments, and these recommendations are counter-productive. If the City does not want poverty and homelessness to be visible in the City, there needs to be other viable and safe options that make encampments become unnecessary, not criminalized. There is hardly enough affordable housing available in this City. We need an immediate supply of housing now, including the expropriation of 214-230 Sherbourne and the building of several affordable, rent-geared-to-income housing units.

In the meantime, we insist that all the existing shelter-hotels remain. Closing any sites would be detrimental to the wellbeing of our City and the health of our residents. The Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project does not support the closing of any shelter sites and we demand that you rethink this decision to protect our most vulnerable residents. 

Sincerely,

Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project
Representing Members Across Toronto
https://www.torontoprisonersrightsproject.org
torontoprisonersrights@gmail.com

No More Deaths in Custody

Please scroll to the bottom to contact the Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, Premier Doug Ford, your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and Superintendent of Maplehurst. 

Mysterious Deaths in Custody 

On February 23, 2022 Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project was made aware of reports of mysterious deaths happening at Maplehurst Correctional Centre. It has been reported by loved ones of those inside and current prisoners at Maplehurst that 4 people have died at Maplehurst in 2022 and over 11 people have died in the past four months. 

The lack of acknowledgement or awareness by the Ministry of the Solicitor General, provincial and federal governments, lawyers and media around COVID-19 related deaths and other deaths in custody is disturbing and unacceptable. 

When a death involving a person in custody occurs, it is the subject of multiple drawn-out investigations called a Coroners Inquest, which allows the Ministry of the Solicitor General and legal institutions to delay justice indefinitely. These inquests continue the abuse of power and privilege, often generating excuses for the death of a human being with no systemic and transformative changes made, nor meaningful accountability from the systems that failed those who have experienced carceral violence. Inquests perpetuate the suffering and traumatization of families who are left even further away from justice than ever.

Mysterious deaths have been happening and hidden behind the walls of jails and prisons for decades. Families demanding justice for their loved ones who died in custody must go through horrific challenges to find out the cause of death and if it was preventable. We have watched the devastating story of Soleimin Faqiri play out in the media for the past 5 years with no accountability or justice. In a report released August 10, 2021, the province’s chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Pollanen said Soleiman Faqiri died on December 15, 2016, after being beaten, pepper-sprayed and restrained face-down in a segregation cell during a health crisis, at the Central East Correctional Facility in Lindsay, ON. Soleiman’s story, however, is one of the many incidents of misconduct and violence that regularly occur behind the walls of these institutions. 

Unfortunately, we are seeing a dramatic increase in deaths and mental health crises arise within Ontario correctional institutions due to mismanagement and neglect by the Solicitor general and the Ontario government throughout the COVID pandemic, as well as the opioid and toxic drug supply crisis pandemic inside. 

The harmful use of endless 23+ hour lockdowns as a ‘COVID measure’ and a way to deal with staff shortages has resulted in increased numbers of attempted suicide at Central East Correctional Centre. In March 2021, there were 2 deaths in the same week at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, followed by a 3rd death in July 2021. In the same month, an 85-year-old man who was detained and awaiting a mental health assessment died at Toronto East Detention Centre which was reported as covid related death. Fort Frances jail in Thunder Bay reported at least one death in 2021 while Thunder Bay district jail reported at least one prisoner death in 2020. In December 2021, Windsor jail reported 3 deaths.

In the most recent report by the government, 29 prisoners have been reported to have died in custody between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. We know from community members that this number is grossly underestimated. However, that is at least 29 government-reported deaths that could have been prevented if we did not rely on our violent carceral system to cage people who instead need and deserve social support within their communities.

We are calling on the Ontario government and the Ontario Human Rights Commission to act immediately by holding the superintendent of Maplehurst Correctional Centre, Doug Barker, and Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General, accountable for their lack of action to prevent deaths in custody. It is important that they are identified to the public and removed from their positions immediately. 

We are also calling on the Ontario Government to pass legislation that makes inquest recommendations legally binding, which will allow for jails to be held accountable to implement changes to prevent further deaths.

KEY ISSUES: 

• We are calling on the Ontario government and the Ontario Human Rights Commission to act immediately by holding the superintendent of Maplehurst Correctional Centre, Doug Barker, and Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General, accountable for their lack of action to prevent deaths in custody. Over 10 deaths have happened in 4 months at Maplehurst Correctional Centre. It is important that they are identified to the public and removed from their positions immediately. 

• Make Inquest recommendations legally binding, holding jails accountable to implement changes to prevent further deaths. Inquests continue the abuse of power and privilege, often generating excuses for the death of a human being with no systemic and transformative changes made, nor meaningful accountability from the systems that failed those who have experienced carceral violence.

• Release of Information. Release public acknowledgement of prisoner deaths in provincial custody, just like Correctional Services Canada (CSC) does for federal deaths.

• Equitable Access to Healthcare. Ensure prisoners receive equitable access to healthcare by transferring the provision of health care in provincial jails to the Ministry of Health. Allow prisoners to receive necessary treatments and attend appointments outside of the institution as needed. 

• Reinstate the Corrections WatchDog and Community Advisory Boards (CAB). There needs to be true independent oversight of the correctional system in Ontario to ensure that the safety, human rights and health needs of prisoners are met. The first Community Advisory Board was implemented in 2013 to address violence and poor conditions at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC). Six more CABs were created with the understanding that each community advisory board was to spend a year visiting and observing their assigned detention centre in order to complete a report based on those observations. The province was then to review the recommendations and respond to them in a public report. The last time reports from the seven boards were released to the public was in summer 2017, which was based on observations made by the boards in 2016. These CABs were quietly dismantled by Doug Ford to decrease any community oversight of our provincial jails. We want CABs reinstated and yearly reports publicly available.

Where is Sylvia Jones?

Calling on Sylvia Jones to Speak Up, Take Action or Step Down!

Please scroll down to contact the Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, Premier Doug Ford, your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), Toronto Public Health, the Ombudsmen and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.  

As the general community is starting to reopen and lessen COVID restrictions, our Ontario jails and prisons continue to be overrun by COVID outbreaks. COVID outbreaks inside these institutions have spiked to the highest numbers we have seen since the onset of the pandemic. This is unacceptable and poses not only a health and safety risk to those inside, but to the general public outside as well.  

Since the start of the pandemic, 4,004 imprisoned people and 1,115 correctional staff have contracted the COVID-19 virus in Ontario jails. On January 12th, 2022, it was reported that 1,961 prisoners were in medical isolation. Over the last three weeks there have been no further reported numbers, leaving those on the outside in the dark. According to the Solicitor General, people inside are being put in medical isolation if they have or are suspected to have COVID-19. We have heard from community members that medical isolation is no different from solitary confinement: 23-hours in cells, no ability to shower, and no way to contact loved ones or connect with lawyers. 

As such, recent numbers tell us that almost 2,000 people in Ontario provincial prisons either have or likely have COVID and are being forced to live in inhumane, solitary confinement-like conditions. We have also seen constant data mismanagement and undercounting by the Ontario government, which leads us to believe that these numbers grossly under-represent the state of COVID-19 in provincial prisons. It is deplorable that there is no reliable public information about COVID-19 testing and positive diagnoses in Ontario jails. This information is vital for the health of all Ontarians, especially Indigenous and Black communities who are targeted by police and overrepresented in our carceral systems.

Community members who have been imprisoned during the pandemic report many incidents of being confined with other people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, they report the liberal use of medical isolations as a punitive form of segregation and confinement, and the inability to get tested or to receive basic PPE such as masks and hand sanitizer. We have also heard many instances of people being disciplined for wearing masks or for creating their own masks for fear of contracting COVID-19. 

As the Solicitor General, Sylvia Jones is directly responsible for the outbreaks that persist within Ontario jails and prisons. It is her responsibility as the Solicitor General to ensure that prisoners are safe and to protect their human rights. Yet she has been SILENT on all the issues that are happening within our Ontario jails. Sylvia Jones needs to be held accountable for her inaction and her blatant disregard of prisoner health and safety. Rather than implementing recommendations from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Ontario Ombudsman, and honouring the calls from prisoners, their loved ones, service providers and supporters for immediate action, Sylvia Jones and the Ontario government have continued to ignore the crisis inside. We are demanding Sylvia Jones to SPEAK UP, TAKE ACTION, or STEP DOWN!!!

Please send a message using the email tool below and scroll down for more background on some of the key issues inside.

KEY ISSUES:

Overcrowding: 

Overcrowding makes battling large COVID outbreaks next to impossible. As a result, outbreaks are running rampant in both provincial and federal institutions across Ontario. Recent reports highlight that the number of adult jails in active outbreaks are 15 out of 25 and nearly 30 percent of Ontario prisoners are in medical isolation. 

The Ministry has reported that the following jails are experiencing outbreaks: Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre, Central East Correctional Centre, Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre, St.Lawrence Valley, Kenora Jail, Maplehurst Correctional Complex, Niagara Detention Centre, North Bay Jail, Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre,  Sudbury Jail, Sarnia Jail, Thunder Bay Jail and Correctional Centre, Toronto East Detention Centre, and the Toronto South Detention Centre. We believe that this list is likely incomplete because we have heard numerous reports that other jails are experiencing outbreak conditions. 

There is no opportunity for prisoners to socially distance or protect themselves from contracting the virus as prisoners in provincial jails report being crowded 3 to 4 people in a two-person cell without masks, hot water, soap, or other resources for proper hygiene, including not being allowed to shower for as long as up to 9-10 days due to lockdowns and staff shortages. 

Transferring of prisoners used to control outbreaks:

In a poor attempt to manage these outbreaks and reduce the number of cases in an institution, prisoners have been transferred from institution to institution. In some cases facilities were closed down completely and their entire prisoner population moved to contaminate another facility. The popular practice of transferring prisoners to different institutions across the province to control outbreaks has been the cause of some of our biggest outbreaks within the carceral system. The Solicitor General alongside the Superintendents of each institution have deliberately increased the risk of prisoners contracting the virus and inserting COVID-19 into institutions that had not been infected. These transfers and COVID outbreak protocols further isolate prisoners from community and legal connections.

Social Isolation:

Throughout the pandemic, prisoners have been isolated from their loved ones and lawyers, and restricted from programs, visitations, as well their basic needs such as showers, fresh air and commissary under the guise of controlling outbreaks. However, two years into the pandemic there are more outbreaks than ever. The law stipulates that in Canada prisoners cannot be placed in solitary confinement for more than 15 days. Solitary confinement refers to the practice of confining a prisoner to a cell and depriving them of meaningful human contact for 22 hours a day or more. However, prisoners continue to report having been held 4 to 5 months in segregation. Institutions continue to isolate people by using lockdowns, droplet precautions, "restrictive movement routines," and segregating people in solitary confinement and other punitive reactionary measures as a way to control the spread of the virus. 

Lack of social connection, cognitive stimulation and exercise has resulted in an increase in mental health issues and violence in response to the trauma they have had to endure. People are taking pleas in a desperate attempt to get out of these inhumane conditions instead of accessing their fundamental right to a fair trial. Also, lack of programming results in prisoners not being given the opportunity to shorten their incarceration by meeting the requirements of parole hearings.

COVID-19 has also delayed criminal trials across Canada, which contradicts the provision set out by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that states all individuals have the right to go to trial within a reasonable time frame. This has left people languishing on remand with no end to their incarceration in sight.

With limited to no access to phone calls and visitations in many institutions cancelled for months, prisoners have been disconnected from their support networks. Families have been distraught with worry not knowing if their loved ones are safe and concerned for their emotional well-being. This has also had a ripple effect on the emotional well-being of families and children of those who are incarcerated. An inability to access phones also makes it incredibly difficult for prisoners to connect with their lawyers to discuss their case or to apply for bail. Lack of visitations and phone access also impacts discharge and reintegration planning, as prisoners have no way of connecting to community support pre-release. 

Limited Access to Healthcare:

Prisoners in Ontario are subjected to limited healthcare services which are overseen and implemented by the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Corporate Health Care Correctional Branch. Reports from prisoners deem this care inadequate, minimal and slow-moving in comparison to the healthcare provided to those on the outside by the Ministry of Health. Due to the limited access to appropriate health care services and punitive responses, prisoners are afraid to seek medical attention or consent to COVID-19 testing, for fear they will be sent to segregation. Prisoners should not have to make a choice between their physical health and their mental well-being.

Crisis In Corrections Policy Brief

On Wednesday, February 2nd we are meeting with MPP Gilles Bisson, the current Critic of Community Safety and Detention and NDP representative of the Northern Riding of Timmins.

BACKGROUND: The Ontario New Democratic Party is the official opposition in the Ontario Legislature. They have more access to information and can ask direct questions of the government. The NDP Critic of Community Safety and Detention is the person who should be working on behalf of the Ontario NDP to oversee prisons.

This is the first time Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project (TPRP) has successfully secured a meeting with the Critic of Community Safety and Detention. The offer was never extended to us previously as the last critic was in favour of police and prisons. This meeting is important as we can bring information, questions and critiques to the critic in hopes for accountability and forward action. During this meeting ex-prisoners, their loved ones and community advocates will share their lived experiences and stories in order to shine a light on the inhumane treatment of prisoners and the human rights violations that persist within correctional institutions throughout Ontario.

If you have any questions for MPP Gilles Bisson, please send us an email to torontoprisonersrights@gmail.com by the end of day on Tuesday, February 1st.

The following was submitted to MPP Gilles Bisson and his team prior to our upcoming meeting:

Crisis in Corrections Policy Brief:
Since the start of this pandemic, 2,250 imprisoned people have contracted the COVID-19 virus. On January 12th 2022, it was reported that 1961 prisoners were in medical isolation. This is the highest number ever reported during this pandemic. According to the Solicitor General, people are put on medical isolation if they have or are suspected to have COVID. We have heard from community members that medical isolation is no different from solitary confinement: 23-hours in cells, no ability to shower, and no way to contact loved ones or connect with lawyers. As such, recent numbers tell us that almost 2000 people in Ontario provincial prisons either have or likely have COVID and are being forced to live in inhumane, solitary confinement-like conditions. We have also seen constant data mismanagement and undercounting by the Ontario government such that it is likely that all these numbers grossly under-represent the state of COVID-19 in provincial prisons. 

Community members who have been imprisoned during the pandemic report many incidences of being confined with others who have tested positive for COVID, liberal use of medical isolations as a punitive form of segregation and confinement, and the inability to get tested or to receive basic PPE such as masks and hand sanitizer. We have also heard many instances of people being disciplined for wearing masks or creating their own for fear of contracting COVID-19.

KEY ISSUES:

Overcrowding 

Overcrowding makes battling large COVID outbreaks next to impossible. As a result, outbreaks are running rampant in both Provincial and Federal institutions across Ontario. Recent reports highlight that the number of adult jails in active outbreaks are 15 out of 25 and nearly 30 percent of Ontario prisoners are in COVID-19 isolation. The jails currently with active outbreak are: Brockville Jail, Central East Correctional Center, Elgin Middlesex Detention Center, Hamilton Wentworth Detention Center, Kenora Jail, Maplehurst Correctional Complex, Niagara Detention Center, North Bay Jail, Ottawa Carleton Detention Center, Quinte Detention Center, Sarnia Jail, Thunder Bay Jail, Toronto East Detention Center, Toronto South Detention Center and the Vanier Center for Women. This list is likely inaccurate since we have reports that other jails are experiencing outbreak conditions. 

There is no opportunity for prisoners to socially distance or protect themselves from contracting the virus as prisoners in provincial jails report being crowded 3 to 4 people in a two-person cell without masks, hot water, soap, and other resources for proper hygiene including not being allowed to shower for as long as up to 9-10 days due to lockdowns and staff shortages. In a poor attempt to manage these outbreaks and reduce the number of cases in an institution, prisoners have been transferred from institution to institution. In some cases facilities were closed down completely and their entire prisoner population moved to contaminate another facility.

Social Isolation

Throughout the pandemic, prisoners have been isolated from their loved ones and lawyers, and restricted from programs, visitations, as well their basic needs such as showers, fresh air and commissary under the guise of controlling outbreaks. However, two years into the pandemic there are more institutional outbreaks than ever. The law stipulates that in Canada prisoners cannot be placed in solitary confinement (the practice of confining a person in prison to a cell and depriving them of meaningful human contact for 22 hours a day or more) for more than 15 days. However, prisoners report having been held 4 to 5 months in segregation. Institutions continue to isolate people by using lockdowns, droplet precautions, "restrictive movement routines," and segregating people in solitary confinement and other punitive reactionary measures as a way to control the spread of the virus. 

Lack of social connection, cognitive stimulation and exercise has resulted in an increase in mental health issues and violence in response to the trauma they have had to endure. People are taking pleas in a desperate attempt to get out of these inhumane conditions instead of accessing their fundamental right to a fair trial. Also, lack of programming results in prisoners not being given the opportunity to shorten their incarceration by meeting the requirements of parole hearings.

“COVID-19 has also delayed criminal trials across Canada,” which contradicts the provision set out by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that states all individuals have the right to go to trial within a reasonable time frame leaving people languishing on remand with no end to their incarceration in sight. 

With limited to no access to phone calls and visitations in many institutions canceled for months, prisoners have been disconnected from their support networks. Families have been distraught with worry not knowing if their loved ones are safe and concerned for their emotional well-being. This has also had a ripple effect on the emotional well-being of families and children of those who are incarcerated. An inability to access phones also makes it incredibly difficult for prisoners to connect with their lawyers to discuss their case or to apply for bail. Lack of visitations and phone access also impacts discharge and reintegration planning, as prisoners have no way of connecting to community support pre-release. 

Limited Access to Healthcare

Prisoners in Ontario are subjected to limited healthcare services which are overseen and implemented by the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Service Canada. Reports from inside deem this care inadequate, minimal and slow-moving in comparison to the healthcare provided to those on the outside by the Ministry of Health. Due to the limited access to appropriate health care services and punitive responses, prisoners are afraid to seek medical attention if they get infected with COVID-19 or other issues for fear that they will be punished. Prisoners should not have to make a choice between their physical health and their mental well-being. We have received reports that if a prisoner asks for a shower or to use the phone, staff have retaliated by denying them access to the phone or shower, relocating them to a segregation unit or physically assaulting that prisoner. We have also received reports that prisoners have not been allowed to go outside of the institution to receive treatment for their medical conditions. 

In response to the aforementioned conditions we urge the Ontario Government to take action by doing the following:

1. Decarceration. Reduce the number of people inside prisons and detention centres through rapid decarceration and non-custodial options (i.e. bail, conditional sentences, diversion programs etc.). This was done at the beginning of the pandemic and therefore can easily be done again.

2. Contain COVID Not People. Stop using lock downs and other administrative confinement measures as a means to try and control the spread of COVID-19.

3. Equitable Access to Healthcare. Ensure prisoners receive equitable access to healthcare by transferring the provision of health care in provincial jails to the Ministry of Health. Allow prisoners to receive necessary treatments and attend appointments outside of the institution as needed. 

4. Provide PPE. Immediately provide prisoners with free medical and sanitary equipment such as free personal protective equipment (e.g. N95 masks) and soap.

5. Release of Information. Release all information regarding COVID-19 and Omicron outbreaks in provincial jails including what steps are being taken by the Ontario government to curb the spread and protect the health of prisoners.

6. Reinstate the Corrections WatchDog and Community Advisory Boards (CAB). There needs to be true independent oversight of the correctional system in Ontario to ensure that the safety, human rights and health needs of prisoners are met. The first Community advisory Board was implemented in 2013 to address violence and poor conditions at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Center (EMDC). Six more CABs were created with the understanding that each community advisory board was to spend a year visiting and observing their assigned detention center in order to complete a report based on those observations. The province was then to review the recommendations and respond to them in a public report. The last time reports from the seven boards were released to the public was in summer 2017 which were based on observations made by the boards in 2016. 

WHO WE ARE:

The Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project (TPRP) was created in December 2019 as a response to the increasing gaps in support and care provided to individuals impacted by incarceration as well as those who are currently incarcerated. TPRP is a volunteer organization of former prisoners, people with loved ones inside, activists, front-line workers, artists, researchers, educators and students. We engage in direct action, public education, and mutual aid to shed light on the harms caused by incarceration and connect prisoners with social, financial, legal and health supports. We are committed to abolition and building sustainable communities rooted in community care, transformative justice, and accountability.

Over the last three years, we have provided support to several thousands of prisoners, ex-prisoners and their loved ones across Ontario and Canada as a whole. Despite our organization being relatively young, we were called to action at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as we witnessed the injustices our loved ones were faced with due to the complete neglect of the Solicitor General, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and the Federal Government. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic we have supported our community through a variety of initiatives to help them meet their material needs that are otherwise overlooked. Such initiatives include: 

1. Prisoner Emergency Support Fund. We have distributed over $275,590 to over 1,200 people through this volunteer run program. Critical funds have been given to prisoners inside to allow them to, for example, purchase essential items such as basic hygiene products through their canteen. Prisoners have to pay for collect calls to loved ones and/or their community supports, even their lawyers. By accessing this fund, prisoners are able to put money into their phone accounts. This fund has also supported recently released prisoners in accessing shelter, food, clothing, transportation and mental health support as they reintegrate back into society.

2. Good Food Box Program. In partnership with FoodShare Ontario we have helped provide over 1200 fresh produce boxes to over 100 recipients who have identified as impacted by incarceration and food insecure.

3. Clothing Drive. Lack of weather appropriate clothing is a big concern for folks being released from custody. Many of whom were detained in the warmer months and are being released in sub zero temperatures without coats, boots and only the clothes they had on their backs at that time they were taken into custody. Institutions who should be able to provide for the safety and well-being of prisoners being released, reached out to us because they have no warm clothes, boots, hats or gloves in their A&D department. We responded by holding two clothing drives and delivering the items to the institutions.

4. Shelter Crisis Survival Drive. Unfortunately, many prisoners end up unhoused due to the lack of support available to them following release. Additionally, many people who are unhoused are often criminalized due to their current situation. To support these folks, we raised over $100,000 to provide critical necessities to our unhoused community members as they face the cold of winter, shut out by the mismanaged shelter system in Toronto.

5. Ontario Prisoner Resource Guide. The Ontario Prisoners’ Resource Guide is the first province wide resource guide designated for currently incarcerated and recently released service users and providers. This document is a compilation of various resources all throughout Ontario that can be of use to someone coming out of jail or prison and service providers to find the support that is available to them in their area. This resource compilation is an on-going project which we update regularly as we discover new resources to add.

The initiatives above are just a fraction of the work that our community organization does. We are able to conduct this work due in large part to our deep commitment to building networks of solidarity amongst many community organizations and partners. Without their help and the mutual understanding that our collective communities keep each other safe, all of our work would not be possible.

CONCLUSIONS:
We have reached out to you and your office for answers to the deadly, dangerous and dilapidated management of prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demand accountability for the worsening conditions and human rights violations occurring inside Ontario jails over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Critic for Community Safety and Correctional Services, we trust that the on-going Crisis in Corrections is as concerning an issue to you as it is to the community. We look forward to having a constructive discussion with you at our upcoming meeting.

REFERENCES:
1) Tracking the Politics of Criminalization and Punishment in Canada 
http://tpcp-canada.blogspot.com;
2) Advocates critique rising jail figures in some provinces after initial COVID-19 fall | CTV News
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/advocates-critique-rising-jail-figures-in-some-provinces-after-initial-covid-19-fall-1.5358293;
3)  Nearly 30 per cent of Ontario prisoners are in COVID-19 isolation https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/01/14/nearly-30-per-cent-of-ontario-jail-inmates-are-in-covid-19-isolation.html;
4) No justice in Isolation: Ending solitary confinement in prison lockdowns and restrictive movement routines
https://bccla.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2021-10-12-Final-Backgrounder-Lockdown-caaw.pdf;
5)  COVID-19 has delayed criminal trials across Canada. Is the justice system doing enough to address the problem?https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/covid-19-delays-justice-system-jordan-rule-fertuck-canada-1.6087923;
6) Transforming Healthcare in our Provincial Prisons, Final Report of Ontario’s Expert Advisory Committee on Health Care Transformation in Corrections https://johnhoward.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Transforming-Health-Care-in-Our-Provincial-Prisons-External-Advisory-Report-2.pdf

Omicron in Prisons: SPEAK UP AND TAKE ACTION or STEP DOWN!

Please sign the petition below:

Since the beginning of the pandemic, loved ones and supporters of those inside have been left in the dark without up-to-date public data on COVID-19 outbreaks within jails and prisons. There has been no transparency or follow-through from provincial and federal governments regarding the implementation of protocols that ensure the safe, humane, and dignified treatment of prisoners who are exposed to and diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Prisoners are at greater risk of becoming severely sick right now, and it is because of our elected representatives’ lack of direction or interest in keeping all of us safe. Despite countless interventions by prisoners, their loved ones, public health officials and human rights groups, people are still being crammed into cells during a pandemic without access to personal protective equipment (PPE), healthcare, and adequate PCR testing. 

Despite knowing about the severe health risks posed by COVID-19 for the last 24 months, we are still unclear about what correctional facilities are doing to prevent, treat, and eradicate COVID-19 inside. We know that these facilities have been locked down – often for 23 hours a day – with prisoners in solitary confinement-like conditions and denied access to showers, phones, programming and family visits. 

It is deplorable that there is no reliable public information about COVID-19 testing and positive diagnoses in Ontario jails. This information is vital for the health of all Ontarians, especially  Indigenous and Black communities who are targeted by police and overly represented in our carceral systems. Rather than implementing recommendations from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Ontario Ombudsman, and honouring the calls from prisoners, their loved ones, service providers and supporters for immediate access to PPE, vaccine information, and decarceration measures, the Ontario government has publicly ignored the crisis inside.

Prisoners in Ontario are subjected to inadequate healthcare services, overseen and implemented by the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Service Canada. Reports from inside deem this care inadequate, minimal and slow-moving in comparison to the healthcare provided to those on the outside by the Ministry of Health. We are gravely concerned about how the second-tier healthcare system inside prisons will be able to successfully and humanely respond to the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ontario government needs to immediately: 

• Reduce the number of people inside prisons and detention centres through rapid decarceration and non-custodial options (i.e. bail, conditional sentences, diversion programs etc.);

• Ensure prisoners receive equitable access to healthcare by transferring the provision of health care in provincial jails to the Ministry of Health, and

• Release all information regarding all COVID-19 and Omicron outbreaks in provincial jails including what steps are being taken by the Ontario government to curb the spread and protect the health of prisoners.

The Ontario government must also:

• Ensure all prisoners have access to free soap, sanitizer, bleach and cleaning supplies;

• Ensure that all prisoners are given Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including masks and gloves when they ask for it;

• Ensure that all prisoners are educated on COVID-19 vaccinations and prevention, symptoms, and treatment of COVID-19;

• Ensure that prison and jail staff are regularly tested, vaccinated, and using PPE;

• Ensure that prisoners who have come in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 are tested and isolated in a humane way, in accordance with human rights standards and not in solitary confinement;

• End the practice of lockdowns and segregation as a means to deal with understaffing or COVID-19 prevention and spread;

• Ensure that prisoners have access to fresh air spaces with safe social distancing;

• Ensure that prisoners have access to free and accessible telecommunication to speak with loved ones and care providers in the community, with restrictions on calls to cell phones and switchboards lifted immediately;

• Ensure that prisoners are prepared with vaccination certificates, passports and/or negative COVID-19 tests before being released, so they will not be limited when accessing services in the community; and

• Create procedures that will allow volunteer and community programming to resume inside.

Now is the time for action.The Ontario government’s response to the pandemic has failed to slow the spread and has endangered the lives, rights, mental health, and wellbeing of prisoners. Incarcerated people continue to face a disproportionate risk of contracting the virus due to unsanitary conditions, close living quarters, frequent physical contact, and underlying chronic health conditions.  Further, the practice of transferring prisoners to different institutions across the province to control outbreaks increases the risk of prisoners contracting the virus and further isolates prisoners from community connections. As prisoners are forced to endure the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conditions inside are a stark reminder that the harms, violence, and death inherent in prisons must also be treated as a crisis.

Free Souheil, Drop the Charges & Stop the Deportation

Contain COVID, Not People Email Zap

Take Action: Outbreak at the Toronto East Detention Centre

Scroll down to take action.

There has been yet another COVID-19 outbreak at the Toronto East Detention Centre (TEDC). The Ministry of the Solicitor General reported 17 new positive cases at the TEDC with 77 people held in medical isolation across Toronto Region Institutions as of September 23, 2021. Since September 2020, the number of inmates placed in medical isolation has more than doubled in Ontario-run prisons. Reports from inside indicate that these numbers are much higher than what these institutions have documented.

The increase in medical isolations in Ontario’s prisons suggest that there has either been rampant outbreaks inside or a dramatic increase in incarceration rates. Even though the Ontario Human Rights Commission has called on Ontario to reduce incarceration rates to prevent the spread of this deadly disease. 

Due to continuing unsanitary conditions, close quarters, frequent physical contact, and the underlying chronic health conditions of many detained people - jails and prisons pose challenges that threaten the health and wellbeing of Ontario's Communities.

Premier Ford and Sylvia Jones are responsible for creating the conditions for more outbreaks to happen inside . We are calling on them to take immediate action to reduce the number of people in prison and improve conditions inside. 

Ask your candidate where they stand on prisoners’ rights?

Scroll down to send an email to candidates in your riding.

The terrible conditions inside prisons across the country continue to be exacerbated by the pandemic and the federal government has taken no concrete action to keep prisoners safe. While many provinces and territories depopulated prisons by expanding diversion measures, people in federally-operated prisons have been largely left behind. Instead, frequent lockdowns and segregation have been the government’s only response to control the virus inside. This course of action has led to predictable and devastating outbreaks, taking a heavy toll on the well-being of our incarcerated kin.  

Prisoners put their bodies on the line to protest these inhumane conditions by organizing hunger and labour strikes. Their loved ones and supporters wrote thousands of letters to their Members of Parliament calling on the government to act quickly to improve the conditions inside and still no action was taken. 

Failure to address harms of prison system this election

With the federal election underway and all political parties platforms released, it is heartbreaking that not a single party has said anything substantive about their commitments to address the growing prison population and the poor conditions that individuals are subjected to inside.

Throughout this past year, calls to defund, dismantle and disarm prisons and police resonated with people across the country, who called instead for prison and police funds to be diverted to community initiatives that better address the root cause of social issues, violence and trauma. While some politicians echoed these calls last summer, we have seen no mention of reducing and eliminating police budgets or prisons during this election. 

Prisoners continue to be left out of political decision-making

Polling stations inside prisons and jails were only open on September 8, 2021, which means that prisoners did not even have a chance to watch the election debates before casting their ballot. In addition to calling for our political candidates to listen to the concerns of prisoners, we demand that prisoners be included in political education and debates in order to participate in informed decision-making. 

Please use this email tool to ask the candidates what are they are planning to do to support people inside prisons and jails? How will you ensure that we are choosing real safety?

Join the movement for prisoners’ rights and prison abolition. Sign-up to learn more about how you can get involved in the fight.

International Overdose Awareness Day

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, where we hold vigils and memorials to honor our loved ones who have died due to drug overdose. Last year alone, 6,214 opioid-related deaths occurred in Canada. Additionally, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen an 89% increase in opioid-related deaths. The overdose and toxic drug supply epidemic continues to rip through our communities collecting carnage while the government remains silent. As these numbers continue to rise, Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project acknowledges that the individuals who die of overdose during, or immediately following incarceration, are often left out of the conversation.

Overdoses behind bars in Ontario have become a regular occurrence. In 2018, there were 18 overdose deaths in Ontario’s provincial jails due to the continued criminalization of drug use and inadequate availability of life-saving harm reduction measures inside. Individuals who have died due to overdose have died alone in a cell despite their death being completely preventable. A prisoner experiencing an overdose is isolated, cannot call for help, and cannot access naloxone. Decades worth of Coroners’ Office recommendations reveal a lack of intervention into the worsening and urgent crisis in corrections for people who use drugs. Instead, people who use drugs are deprived of dignity and care as officers regularly ignore pleas for help from prisoners, and refuse to administer and distribute life-saving naloxone due to the fear of liability.  

Opioid-related deaths continue to increase among incarcerated people and recently released people. In the two weeks after release, a prisoner’s risk of overdose is more than 50 times higher than in the general population. One in ten of all overdose deaths is a prisoner released within the past year.

Despite this, our prisons and jails often delay or deny access to meaningful harm reduction interventions for people who use drugs and fail to ensure access to the appropriate supports upon release.

Federal, provincial and territorial governments need to step up and tackle the opioid epidemic in our prisons and jails. Enough is enough and all overdose deaths are preventable. It is time to implement timely access to Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) for every incarcerated person, open access to naloxone on all units in every institution, decriminalization of all drugs, safe supply programs inside and lastly, access to clean, safe harm reduction supplies and education. Needle and Syringe Programs (NSP) and Harm Reduction Programs need to be rolled out in our Federal Institutions, and Correctional Service Canada (CSC) needs to enforce the rollout. Until we make these changes, our most vulnerable community members will continue to endure extraordinary suffering at the hands of our government and the body count will continue to rise.

Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project would like to raise public awareness and remember, without stigma, those who have been lost to the overdose crisis inside correctional facilities and echo an urgent response to the critical, increasing and fatal overdose crisis with the vulnerable in-custody and post-release correctional population. In response to a need for pressing action, we are asking our community to donate to the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund (PESF), in alignment with International Overdose Awareness Day. The PESF supports those who are currently incarcerated as well as those who have been recently released and their loved ones. The PESF helps provide funds for phone bills, essential items, canteens, housing, food, clothing, and physical and mental health supports in order to breach social isolation inside and to fill the gaps the system fails to address. 

#NoMoreDeathsInCustody #InternationalOverdoseAwarenessDay #HarmReduction #HarmReductionSavesLives #AbolishPrisons #PeopleOverPrisons #OverdoseDeathIsPreventable 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/euz3f9-prisoner-emergency-support-fund 

(https://www.dal.ca/news/2020/03/09/fuelling-a-crisis--lack-of-treatment-for-opioid-use-in-canada-s-.html).

Corrections is the Crisis: No More Deaths in Custody

On July 3rd, Brandon Marchant, 32, was fatally beaten by five Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) correctional officers. Ontario's Major Crimes Unit of the London Police Service is now involved in investigating Brandon’s death. 

Brandon was assaulted by correctional officers the evening before he was found lifeless in his jail cell. Before his death, Brandon was transferred from the ICU at a London hospital to a segregation unit at EMDC. After being denied a shower, Brandon threw a towel at the correctional officers in frustration. In response, five officers rushed into Brandon’s cell, violently assaulted him, and then left Brandon alone in his cell to die. The following morning, Brandon was found unresponsive in his cell, and transported to the hospital, where he was placed on life support until being taken off and pronounced dead on July 6th. 

Several prisoners have come forward as witnesses of Brandon’s death. Together, with their loved ones, they are speaking out to demand justice and calling for action stating that “enough is enough.”

An individual incarcerated at EMDC recounts the assault and reflects on the lack of protection for prisoners within these institutions:

“As soon as he threw the towel, they said, ‘What do you think you’re doing? You don’t throw stuff at staff’. And they went in there and beat… him. In jail, we are supposed to be protected, not killed… The screams caught my attention. I will never forget those screams”. (Richmond, 2021)

Since 2009, there have been 19 deaths at EMDC. When a death involving a person in custody occurs, it is the subject of multiple drawn-out investigations, which allows the Ministry of the Solicitor General and legal institutions to delay justice nearly indefinitely. However, these inquests continue the abuse of power and privilege, often generating excuses for the death of a human being with no systemic and transformative changes made, nor meaningful accountability from the systems that failed those who have experienced carceral violence. This continues the suffering and traumatization of families who are left even further away from justice than ever.

More and more frequently, prisoners at EMDC are drawing our attention to the abuses of correctional officers in prisons, such as their participation in drug deals, the orchestrating of violence between prisoners (i.e. jumpings), and their involvement in coercion, sexual assault, and fatal physical assaults. Still, there has been no action from the Ministry to acknowledge the countless reports of these abuses and the deaths.

It is time for the government to step up and listen to the repeated inquest recommendations and hold correctional officers accountable for their role in prisoner deaths. The Ministry’s ongoing inaction speaks volumes about their protection and prioritization of these inherently violent institutions and their employees who are a part of and uphold that violence. The Ministry's silence and inaction have also had the effect of justifying and continuing the use of excessive force, human rights violations and ultimately, the death of prisoners, which reflects the literal death and cycles of harm that prisons actively cause and perpetuate.  

Families have been demanding justice for their loved ones for decades, yet instead of displaying solidarity with them, the Ministry continues to draw a wedge between them. This was demonstrated by a recent decision from the province and jail to remove memorial crosses (not placed on the jail’s property) that honoured the lives of prisoners lost while incarcerated at EMDC. The Ministry and jail have claimed that the memorials placed by the victims' loved ones are causing emotional distress to correctional officers and other staff members. What about the emotional distress of the families and the prisoners who witness these horrible deaths and have to remain locked up in fear that they will be next? What about the alarming message that these institutions send that prisoners are disposable and that their lives, safety, and well-being do not and have never mattered? 

In direct violation of the protocol to contact the families first, on July 12th, 2021, at approximately 1:30 pm, the memorial crosses were removed from the ground and thrown into a pick-up truck. This further demonstrates the clear lack of care and consideration that the province and jail have for the families who have been the most impacted by their negligence. Brandon and countless others like him should still be alive. Institutions like prisons and all others that claim to act in the name of justice and public interests but cause death, violence, and prevent communities from addressing harm on their terms and disempower communities from living and thriving, should not exist. 

In solidarity with those impacted by carceral and state violence, we urge community members to pressure EMDC jail's administration and the provincial government by contacting those listed below to demand justice! You can send an email by using this simple email tool (click here)

When tweeting and sharing content on social media, please use the following hashtags to raise further awareness: #CrisisInCorrections #NoMoreDeathsInCustody #PrisonersLivesMatter

• EMDC Superintendent, Don Chillman 

  • Tel: 519-686-1922 ext 241 

  • Email: don.chillman@ontario.ca 

• Solicitor General, Sylvia Jones 

  • Tel: 416-325-0408

  • Email sylvia.jonesco@pc.ola.org  

  • Twitter: @SylviaJonesMPP

• Ontario Human Rights Commission

  • Tel: 416-326-9511

  • Email: info@ohrc.on.ca 

  • Twitter: @OntHumanRights

• Support for People “Inside”

  • Toll-Free: 1-800-387-9080

  • TPRP Jail Hotline: 416-775-9239

To arrange an interview with the families affected, former prisoners and prisoners’ rights advocates, please contact the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project by email at torontoprisonersrights@gmail.com.

Black prisoner brutally assaulted by prison guards, seeks justice

Voir traduction française

Montreal, Quebec, June 3, 2021 - A Black prisoner was brutally assaulted by prison guards at Millhaven Institution in Ontario. The prisoner, Christophe Lewis, is currently held at the Federal Training Centre in Laval, Quebec. Having obtained a video recording of the assault, Lewis is now hoping that criminal charges be laid against the offending guards.

The assault occurred as Lewis was re-entering the facility in November 2012 when a female guard demanded to strip search him. As the video shows, Lewis requested that the strip search be conducted by a male guard, as prison protocol requires. Rather than complying with the request, roughly twenty guards participated in an assault on Lewis – punching and kicking him, using a banned headlock on him, and firing pepper spray into his eyes.

The assault testifies to the violence experienced by prisoners, especially Black and Indigenous prisoners, in Canada’s prisons. It also points to the failures of the system to respond to complaints. Soon after the assault, Lewis filed a complaint with the Office of the Correctional Investigator. Anne Kelley, then Senior Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services Canada (CSC) and now Commissioner of CSC, ultimately upheld Lewis’s grievance, but judged that no corrective action against the guards was required.

“All of the guards remained at work, and some would call me names, threaten me, deny me phone calls, showers, and meals as they saw fit. It’s clear to me that the guards were only emboldened by their action against me,” says Lewis.  “I have decided to come forward with this video due, in part, to continued mistreatment and pressure from CSC staff that has shown me they will never change their systemically racist tendencies. I am shedding light on these incidents in the hopes that systemic change will come.”

Seeking justice for the assault he experienced, Lewis is represented by renowned Montreal-based carceral lawyer Sylvia Bordelais. He is also being supported by two prisoners’ rights groups, the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project and the Montreal-based Anti-Carceral Group.

“The brutal attack on Christophe Lewis is heart-wrenching and outlines precisely why people across the country are calling for an end to policing and incarceration. As Christophe has made clear, this is not an institution invested in healing or rehabilitation; instead, it is where police send those of us deemed disposable to be tortured and maimed,” says Rajean Hoilett, member of the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project. “Every day people are brutalized by prisons while those responsible for this violence move through our communities emboldened by impunity. As Christophe makes clear, we need systemic solutions that prevent and redress harm, rather than perpetuate it through criminalization and punishment.”

The media are invited to a press conference about the assault and Lewis’s quest for justice Friday, June 4th at 9am. Speakers will include Sylvie Bordelais (his lawyer) and Rajean Hoilett (Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project). A recorded statement from Lewis and the video recording of his assault will also be played. The video is available for distribution by media, along with photos of Lewis.

Media contact:

Ted Rutland, Anti-Carceral Group, ted.rutland /at/ concordia.ca
Toronto Prisoners Rights Project, torontoprisonersrights /at/ gmail.com

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Un homme Noir, violemment battu par des gardiens de prison, réclame justice

See English translation

Montreal, Québec, 3 Juin, 2021 - Un homme Noir a été violemment battu par des gardiens de la prison Milhaven Institution en Ontario. L’homme en question, Christophe Lewis, est un détenu au Centre Fédéral de Formation à Laval, Québec. Ayant obtenu un enregistrement vidéo de l’attaque, Lewis espère maintenant que des accusations criminelles seront portées contre les gardiens responsables. 

L’attaque a eu lieu lorsque Lewis réintégrait l’établissement en Novembre 2012. Un membre du personnel féminin, une gardienne de prison, a demandé qu’il subisse une fouille corporelle, à nu. Dans la vidéo, on peut voir Lewis, qui demande que la fouille soit effectuée par un homme - tel que prescrit dans le code de conduite de la prison. Plutôt que de se conformer aux règlements, une vingtaine de gardiens ont attaqué Lewis: ils l’ont roué de coups de pieds, de coups de poings, ils l’ont étranglé en utilisant une technique interdite et ils ont aspergé son visage de gaz poivré. 

Cette attaque témoigne de la violence vécue par les prisonniers, surtout ceux et celles qui sont Noirs ou Autochtones dans les prisons Canadiennes. Cela indique aussi l’échec total du système carcéral, qui n’arrive pas à suivre ses propres protocoles, ni à répondre aux plaintes formelles. Peu après l’attaque, Lewis dépose une plainte auprès du Bureau de l’Enquêteur Correctionnel. Anne Kelley était à l’époque la sous-commissaire principale du Service correctionnel du Canada (SCC), et elle a appuyé le grief de Lewis, tout en jugeant qu’aucune action ne devait être prise pour corriger les gardes de prison. Anne Kelley est aujourd’hui la Commissaire du SCC, qu’elle dirige depuis 2018.

«Tous ces gardes ont été maintenus dans leurs fonctions, et par la suite, certains d’entre-eux m’insultaient, me menaçaient, me privaient de mes repas, de mes douches et de mes appels téléphoniques, selon leurs humeurs. Je réalise que cette attaque contre moi a encouragé l’attitude confrontationnelle de ces gardes» dit Lewis. «Une des raisons pour lesquelles j’ai décidé de divulguer cette vidéo, c’est l’abus qui continue de la part du personnel du SCC. Leurs comportements m’ont démontré qu’ils ne changeront jamais leurs tendances systémiques racistes de leur propre gré. Je partage donc ces informations avec l’espoir que cela pourra contribuer à un changement systémique.» 

En quête de justice suite à l’attaque qu’il a survécu, Lewis est représenté légalement par l’avocate en droit carcéral Sylvie Bordelais. Il est aussi soutenu par deux groupes de défense des droits des détenus, le Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project et le Groupe Anti-Carcéral, basé à Montréal.

«Cette attaque brutale contre Christophe Lewis est déchirante et elle nous illustre précisément pourquoi des individus à travers tout le Canada souhaitent mettre fin à l’incarcération et aux institutions policières. Comme Christophe l’a démontré, il ne s’agit pas d’une institution investie dans la guérison ou la réhabilitation; c’est plutôt le lieu où la police envoie ceux et celles qu’elle considère comme inutiles ou indésirables pour les faire torturer.» affirme Rajean Hoilett, membre du Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project. «Chaque jour, des individus sont brutalisés par les prisons, alors que ceux qui sont responsables pour la violence circulent librement dans nos communautés, encouragés par l’impunité. Mr. Lewis l’a dit clairement: nous avons besoin de solutions systémiques qui préviennent et réparent les torts, plutôt que de perpétuer cette violence à travers la criminalisation et la punition.»

Les médias sont invités ce Vendredi 4 Juin à 9h, à une conférence de presse, au sujet de l’attaque et la quête de justice de Christophe Lewis. Sylvie Bordelais (son avocate) et Rajean Hoilett (Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project) prendront parole. Un énoncé enregistré de Lewis sera entendu et l’enregistrement vidéo de l’attaque sera visionné. La vidéo est disponible pour  diffusion par les médias, ainsi que les photos de Lewis.

Lien Zoom pour la conférence de presse à 9h: https://concordia-ca.zoom.us/j/84221733120

Contact média:

Ted Rutland, Anti-Carceral Group, ted.rutland /at/ concordia.ca
Toronto Prisoners Rights Project, torontoprisonersrights /at/ gmail.com

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Outbreak at CECC Zap

Free Them All Zap

Prisoner Emergency Support Fund Update

Image description: A white background is covered with diagonal black-stripes and speckled with birds in flight. Atop the image, a title in red reads, “Prisoner Emergency Support Fund Update.” Below, in black, the text reads as follows: Number of applications received: 1,979; Number of people supported: 806; Funds distributed: $181,400; Number of people still in need of support: 1,173; Funds still required to meet current needs: $263,925.

We are approaching one year since the first prisoner in Canada contracted COVID-19, and since the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund was launched. Thank you to everyone who has donated to and shared the Fund - the overwhelming show of solidarity over the past year has encouraged us to continue to raise and distribute money to help support prisoners, recently released prisoners who are re-entering the community, and their loved ones. The pre-existing harms of incarceration have only been heightened by the pandemic, and the volume of applications we continue to receive has revealed the enormous need for ongoing support. 

As of March 2021:

Number of Applications Received: 1,979

Number of People Supported: 806
Funds Distributed: $181,400

Number of People Still in Need of Support: 1,173

Funds Still Required to Meet Current Needs: $263,925

Donations can be made through GoFundMe, or by e-transfer to prisonerfund[at]gmail.com

The community’s response to the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund has shown us all clearly that #WeKeepEachOtherSafe! The people that we have assisted have been incredibly grateful and blown away by the extent of community care. By continuing to show up and care for all members of our community, we believe we can work towards a safer and more equitable world.

Free Them All: National Day of Action

Saturday, March 20th, 2021 marks one year since the first COVID-19 cases linked to Canadian prisons were detected. A few days after a contract worker at the South West Detention Centre and a staff member at the Toronto South Detention Centre tested positive for the coronavirus, the first Canadian prisoner case of COVID-19 was detected at the Toronto South Detention Centre. Nearly 7,000 cases of COVID-19 amongst prisoners and prison staff have been reported since.

Despite calls to action, jurisdictions have failed to adequately depopulate human caging sites to reduce the spread of COVID-19 behind and beyond prison walls.  Conditions inside jails and prisons across the country, including in Ontario, continue to worsen with the frequent imposition of segregation-like conditions leaving prisoners fearful as a potential third wave of COVID looms. 

When: Saturday, March 20th from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm 

Where: Maplehurst Correctional Complex (11:00 am) 

Toronto South Detention Centre (1:00 pm) 

Who: Prisoner rights activists, former prisoners, the loved ones of incarcerated people, frontline workers, and community members from the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project and allied groups

What: A rally outside of Maplehurst Correctional Complex followed by a car caravan to Toronto South Detention Centre where a second rally will finish the event

On this date, prisoner rights activists, former prisoners, the loved ones of incarcerated people, frontline workers and community members will gather across various cities to demand immediate action from governments and punitive injustice system actors. 

The Free Them All: National Day of Action will highlight the injustices that criminalized people have endured prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will also demand concerted action to depopulate prisons to the extent possible during the pandemic, end torturous conditions of confinement faced by those who are not freed, increase protective supplies and vaccines for prisoners, and to choose real safety by taking steps to divest and dismantle prisons in order to build communities where we can keep each other safe from and better respond to social harm.   

A list of our demands can be found here: https://www.torontoprisonersrightsproject.org/events/national-day-of-action-free-them-all

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Livestream: 

Toronto Prisoner’s Rights Project Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TorontoPrisonersRightsProject/

Toronto Prisoner’s Rights Project Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAsY9h8ny0FV9NgpodFKxCA

To arrange a media interview, please contact:

Toronto Prisoner’s Rights Project: 

torontoprisonersrights@gmail.com

Response to Announcement

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Re: Building Pathways to Careers in Corrections Announcement

On June 16, 2020, the Ontario government announced that it would invest $500 million in corrections, primarily aimed at increasing staff. On March 9, 2021, the government announced that part of this investment would go into financially compensating new correctional officers undergoing training. This investment by the Ontario government to pour more money into training for correctional officers is enraging and particularly egregious given the consistent lack of access to career development and educational programs that prisoners themselves can access for lack of funding. Further infuriating is the announcement of a pilot correctional training program meant to engage topics such as human rights, mental health, and anti-racism, when we know that carceral systems need to dehumanize prisoners and exacerbate their trauma in order to exist, while further being anti-Black, ableist, and trans-exclusionary by design. At this point of the pandemic, it is clear that prisons and jails produce more violence in our communities than they are purported to stop.

Prisoners have launched countless hunger strikes to protest the inhumane conditions inside. Their demands have included access to personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, video visits, the end of frequent lockdowns, access to adequate food, clean clothes, clean water, proper air ventilation, regular canteen access and additional food options, and more phones to relieve tensions and increase access to communication to their loved ones and outside support networks. 

Contracting COVID-19 inside is continuously cited by prisoners as a major source of trepidation in the present day. Many have reported feeling powerless in the face of the spread of COVID-19 infections across federal and provincial institutions. Prisoners in Joyceville have noted that while they do not have regular access to masks and PPE, guards and correctional officers that do, inconsistently use masks while punishing prisoners for attempting to make their own. This is extremely concerning given that incorrect PPE usage from prison staff has been attributed to recent outbreaks. Physical distancing is also not adhered to in prisons and jails, not for prisoners’ lack of trying, but due to the purpose of these facilities which are meant to cage and squeeze people into confinement for the sake of so-called justice. As noted by Dr. Aaron Orkin, a physician specialist in Public Health and Preventative Medicine: “The degree of social distancing required to reduce COVID-19 transmission in correctional facilities is not possible with the number of people presently located in these facilities.”

Put succinctly in a Maclean’s article published last week, “Canada’s prisons are antiquated, inhumane, violent, and expensive.” Accounts from prison staff in the Toronto Star detail how bad it is to even work within these institutions citing “blatant” racism. Despite these ongoing protests, perpetual health and safety violations, and repeated news stories, Solicitor General Syvila Jones and the Ontario government have taken no action to address these crises. To now make this announcement is a direct reflection of this government’s priorities, which are dangerously out of step with what we need to recover from this pandemic. 

Communities have been demanding action for adequate and safe housing, income security, food security, and access to programs and services. These demands have been made against the backdrop of an uprising against police and state violence including incarceration. To continue to drag their feet on these important issues and commit to bolstering a system predicated on racial, colonial and gendered violence is disgusting. 

Prisoners Speak Out to Demand Improved Living Conditions and an End to Human Rights Abuses, A Thousand Ontarians Sign Open Letter to Support for Releases

Milton / Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk and Haudenosaunee Territories -Two weeks ago, men incarcerated at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario, began a hunger strike in response to the ongoing human rights abuses and poor living conditions, especially as it relates to COVID. The Ontario government's dangerous practices led to people being transferred from positive units at one institution to another, causing an outbreak to occur at Maplehurst. The jail was unprepared for this and soon closed its doors to new prisoners. While the hunger strike itself is now over, the men continue to demand access to personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, video visits, the end of frequent lockdowns, access to adequate food, clean clothes, proper air ventilation, regular canteen access and additional options, and a more phones to relieve tensions and increase access to communication. 

An individual incarcerated at Maplehurst who wished to remain anonymous explained their reasons for striking in a statement: 

"We are locked down 23 hours a day, often for weeks at a time. We have to use our shower time to use the phones, and guards do not take any precautions to keep us safe. That place should be torn down and never built again."

Advocacy groups have been fighting for a full year to ensure that (a) prisoners receive full access to time out of their cell, yard, showers, visitation, programming, health and mental health care, free phone calls, sanitation and personal protection supplies, and other necessities, while also (b) demanding additional measures to divert and decarcerate people from custody during and beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Rajean Hoilett of the Toronto Prisoners' Rights Project notes: "This hunger strike builds on a long history of incarcerated people putting their bodies on the line to demand basic human rights. Any small concessions that the jails make due to these actions need to be followed by a complete transformation of our communities to ensure that everyone has access to safe housing, food, water, and education. Prisons are not keeping our communities safe; rather, they are putting us in harm's way."

It is imperative to note that these oppressive conditions and human rights abuses are not unique to Maplehurst. The hunger strike at the Milton jail is taking place in the wake of similar actions initiated by prisoners at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay and Toronto South Detention Centre this past month and multiple other institutions during this pandemic. Prisoners at the Barton Jail are starting a hunger strike today to protest the inhumane conditions that have led to another outbreak there. Incarcerated people initiated these actions in response to poor conditions of confinement that have further deteriorated due to COVID-19. Measures put in place by the Ministry of the Solicitor General in the name of public health are not working, as is made clear by the over 1,200 coronavirus infections linked to Ontario's provincial jails to date.

While Ontario jails and prisons continue to violate people's rights, an anticipated third wave of COVID-19 with more contagious variants may leave prisoners more vulnerable as the province loosens restrictions in our communities and neglects to address the conditions as mentioned earlier inside prisons. A prisoner at Central East Detention Centre referred to the inaction of government officials as "draconian" and "arbitrary," stating that "as a racialized, at-risk member from a dysfunctional community, I felt it's meant to punish us." The justice system continues to subject our most vulnerable community members to violence and abandonment: "Any time you're black, Indigenous and young they can stall, they can speak to us any way they want, they can beat us up… it's happening, and the courts are turning a willful blind eye". These issues are features of the prison system, not failures that can be reformed or fixed. The point of prison is to cause suffering, so we are not surprised to see these things continue to happen to our people inside. 

In our Open Letter to Take Meaningful Action to Contain COVID, Not People in Ontario to be released during an online press conference today at 10:00 AM, over a thousand signatories are calling upon the provincial government to immediately take meaningful steps towards releasing as many people out of these institutions as possible. We must be working towards abolishing these jails and prisons. No one will be safe until we choose real safety by divesting from human caging and building communities where basic needs are met, rather than cages.

Organizations are urging community members to pressure Milton jail's administration and the provincial government by contacting Maplehurst's Superintendent Doug Barker by phone at 905-876-7345 or by email at doug.barker@ontario.ca and sending a Tweet to the Solicitor General @SylviaJonesMPP in support of the reasonable demands made by the hunger strikers.

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To arrange an interview, please contact: 

Toronto Prisoners' Rights Project, torontoprisonersrights@gmail.com

Rajean Hoilett (289) 923-3534

Alannah Fricker (647) 502-6481

Criminalization and Punishment Education Project

Souheil Benslimane, jail.hotline@gmail.com (819) 592-6469

Justin Piché, justin.piche@uottawa.ca / (613) 793-1093

Please read the open letter here: https://www.torontoprisonersrightsproject.org/sign-open-letter