….part one ended with “So, why am I writing this Grievance? Good question.”

Apparently, the cause of all these difficulties is due to a lack of staff on shift at any one time.

So, it takes about 50 – 55 staff to run this institution properly. It’s currently operating on about 40 at any given time. That means that when there is a problem in one area staff are pulled from other areas. The same goes when staff is needed to facilitate escorts. These things effectively shut down the whole institution for hours, or even days at a time. How can this institution provide all of the rightful opportunities afforded to inmates as outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights while only operating at a staff capacity of around 72%? It cannot.

Forgetting about the mental health issues that can arise, what about violent incidents, drug use, institutional motivation? Think of the legal implications. God forbid that Toronto class-action law firm Koskie Minsky gets hold of this! See…., inmates won’t need to be wealthy to get before the courts to be heard….I’m just sayin’…. We don’t even have access to hobby/craft programs.

And things are only going to get worse. Due to the changes with Directives around segregation, those inmates who were being housed in the segregation unit have been moved to a regular recently renovated unit, and will be permitted 4 hours of “range time” per day. This means that the ‘new’ unit will need to be manned with staff, most likely from other areas of the institution, creating even more strain on the situation.

As for the amount of “range time” allotted to the regular population, forget about the standard operating procedures. Inmate movement to yard, recreation, work, or school is always late. Evening rec./yard movement NEVER happens before 5:30pm (usually it’s 5:40pm – 5:45pm), until 8pm (say 2 hours). If an inmate declines rec./yard, his “range time” is from 7pm until around 7:45-50pm (45 minutes), then it’s lock-up for movement. The next movement (for evening “range time”) happens anywhere between 8:50pm – 9:10pm…, let’s say 9pm for arguments sake. 9pm – 10:30pm is 90 minutes divided by 2 (one half of range at a time is out of cells) equals 45 minutes each. So, if an inmate goes to rec./yard, he gets around 2½ – 3 hours of inmate activities. If he does not go to rec./yard, he gets less, around 1½ – 2 hours of inmate activities.

Actually, on paper, there is supposed to be another bit of range activities between the end of rec./yard movement, and 6pm ‘til 7pm lock-up (staff breaks), but that NEVER happens (loss of about 30-40 minutes).

And, if there is no work on a given day, then the inmate is locked in his cell all day (period!).

Let me tell you, I wish I could get 4 hours a day out of my cell. So would any “population” inmate!

Future proposals concern finding staff are being considered. It may be that full-time school inmates will have their days (Mon., Tue., Thurs.) cut to AM only (MORE CELL TIME). Well, consider this. Guys don’t seek employment for the pay, that’s for damn sure! I’m sure this isn’t news to you, but we get jobs in order to break up our days so as not to go nuts being locked in our ‘cages’ for excessive amounts of time.

“STAFF SHORTAGE” is NOT adequate reasoning for excessive lock-downs, just ask the provincial system.

ABOLISH SOLITARY CONFINEMENT? Not from our point of view! “Segregation” status still exists here at Millhaven. It’s called “general population”.

I’ve stated facts in support of my argument, and that’s the reality of it pure and simple.

Something needs to be done….and soon.

Brennan W. Guigue
January 31, 2019