This is another item from the root cellar waiting for ‘screen time’.

Back on October 12 of last year, the Globe and Mail ran “Use of solitary in federal prisons plummets” under Patrick White’s byline. The story begins with, “Canada’s prison agency has halved the number of inmates it keeps in indefinite solitary confinement over the past two years……”

Correctional Service of Canada wouldn’t admit outside pressure influenced the changes, but there is no question CSC is attempting to to curry favour with the Justice Minister. What Don Head and the rest of the prison management team do not want is any intrusion into their domain, and will do what it can to thwart efforts to bring Correctional Service of Canada into the 20th century, let alone 2017.

Nick Fabiano is CSC’s director-general of security….at least he was last fall. After reading his comments on the subject, we had to jump in:-

October 17, 2016

Nick Fabiano, Director-General, Security,
Correctional Service of Canada,
340 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0P9

Re: Solitary confinement

Mr. Fabiano:

“There’s been a collective push among all of management to ensure that we’re exercising our responsibilities and due diligence.” Nick Fabiano, Globe and Mail, October 12

Cow cookies!

The management team at Correctional Service of Canada has not only had ample opportunities over decades to introduce progressive policies without outside prompting, but the agency has been emphatically encouraged to do so for years from any number of knowledgeable and expert resources, here and elsewhere. That it stubbornly resisted and even rejected recommendations outright is a true measure of CSC’s medievalist mentality.

What you and the others at 340 Laurier Avenue West are now doing is attempting to stave off legislated changes to CSC policies and practices. If you can convince the government that you’re moving in the direction you should have taken long ago, then perhaps it will leave you alone to go right back to the dark ages.

“I don’t think this issue (solitary confinement) will be solved without legislative changes,” is how Howard Sapers sees it. He’s right, and not only on the question of the use of segregation, but in so many areas where the Service has refused to let in the light.

Yours truly,

Charles H. Klassen

cc Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, Hon. Ralph Goodale,
Howard Sapers, Com. Don Head, Patrick White-Globe and Mail

It wasn’t just Mr. Fabiano’s remark quoted at the start of our letter that offends, but he went on later to say that, “we are providing advice on that front”, referring to the government’s goal to have the Service implement the recommendations of the Ashley Smith inquest. Good grief, CSC has diligently ignored and subverted as many of those proposals as it can.

Cow cookies, indeed!