…..A PRIMER
“CSC is committed to building an anti-racist organization that is diverse, inclusive and equitable.”  Correctional Service of Canada – Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion:  Progress Report 2021-2023, October 2023.

The Office of the Correctional Investigator 2021-2022 Annual Report’s chapter, Update on the Experience of Black Persons in Canadian Federal Penitentiaries, quoted from the Senate of Canada’s Standing Committee on Human Rights Interim Report – Study on the Human Rights of Federally-Sentenced Persons, released in February 2019, as follows:-

“The committee wishes to draw attention to the fact that it has heard personal stories of racism and discrimination from almost every Black individual with whom it has had contact during its fact-finding visits.  This includes persons servicing sentences and those administrating them…..  …..one witness stated, ‘one aspect of anti-Black racism in the prison system is that it is not only applied to prisoners but also to Black communities, families and advocates.’….the Correctional Investigator indicated to the committee that the CSC has not addressed the systemic issues related to racism and discrimination against federally-sentenced Black persons that the OCI documented in a 2013 report.”

The Correctional Investigator added this observation from the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights final report released in June 2021: –

“The committee heard many stories from federally-sentenced Black persons about instances of blatant anti-Black racism against federally-sentenced Black persons and Black correctional officers.  Some of these instances include being called derogatory names, not having work opportunities available to them, being assumed to be gang affiliated for wearing a do-rag or being seen in a group of other federally-sentenced Black persons.”

The Correctional Investigator’s report went on with, “These condemnatory findings prompted the Prime Minister of Canada to issue a mandate letter to the Minister of Public Safety to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system, including federal corrections.  The PM directed the Minister to:
Continue to combat systemic racism and discrimination in the criminal justice system, including across all federal departments and agencies responsible for national security and the safety of Canadians.  This also includes supporting the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in their work to address systemic racism and the over-representation of Black and racialized Canadians and Indigenous Peoples in the justice system.”

Nonetheless, racism is so deeply embedded within the Correctional Service of Canada psyche that not even a mandate from the prime minister made an impact.

On October 24 of this year, the Progressive Inmate Assembly distributed The Archambault Report 2.0 which it secured from the Inmate Committee Archambault Institution.  This is a 39-page series of essays by inmates in this medium/minimum multi-level prison just to the north of Montreal and it includes several references to systemic racism within CSC.

To cite only one, in The Audacity of Hope in the CSC by Andrew Belcourt, the author includes his take on the subject in his multi-page contribution.  “There is no debate about the existence of systemic racism in both Justice and the CSC.  The only way to solve this problem is 1) everyone needs to admit this is real, and prisoners suffer the most from this type of systemic hate.  2) Have a financial penalty levied on any federal employee who abuses the system for ideological reasons.  3) Resolve the issue created by the incident (be it transfers, releases, inmate pays, diets, etc.)  4) Create a double-blind classification system that leaves no room for personal opinions (if math doesn’t work, the system is wrong).  The rule of thumb should be – there can be no place for personal opinion, anywhere in classification.  If you allow personal opinion, you allow the option of hate & discrimination.”  The report notes at the conclusion of this piece that, “Andrew Belcourt is 13 years into his life sentence.  He is a member of the Inmate Committee and donates his time to help others in prison.  He was involuntarily transferred out of Quebec, in part because of this report.”
CSC takes the easy route to justify its actions by inserting disinformation into an inmate’s file, in this case to facilitate an involuntarily transfer.

Brennan Guigue (Black/Indigenous) was not a part of the Archambault Report but was subject to many racist-related experiences during his five-months in Donnacona Institution near Quebec City.  Sabine Michaud, the Independent External Decision Maker (IEDM) who consulted with him, made several recommendations to prison management about his conditions of confinement, including his need for a job.  The prison basically ignored Ms. Michaud’s advice.

Brennan made several requests for a job which were routinely ignored.  There was an incident where a Francophone inmate working as the range cleaner was fired for moving contraband from one cell to another.  Brennan was denied an opportunity to replace him.  That fired inmate was working in the institution’s kitchen a week later.  And Brennan still had no work.

In September of this year, shortly before his transfer to Saskatchewan, Brennan knew the current range cleaner was leaving.  He asked that inmate to recommend him to the guards as a replacement.  The inmate came back with a message from the guards.

“Le nègre ne trouvera jamais de travail dan cette institution.”

Merci, la belle province!

…..FOR NOW.
There are countless narratives from prison inmates whose health care needs are not being met, often exacerbating conditions that can lead to poorer outcomes.  There are inmates who see their repeated requests for help ignored, putting them at risk for chronic illness or emergencies.  There are no alternatives and no options for second opinions.

There are no health services at night or weekends, leaving potentially dire medical events in the hands of staff who usually have only rudimentary intervention training.  The criteria to call for outside help may encounter bureaucratic delays.  Ambulances will likely come from a distance, and EMS personnel will wait for guard-escorts to the patient-inmate.  It can be scary for someone in crisis.  To its credit though, CSC doesn’t generally lose an inmate in urgent situations although end results may not be ideal.  Pity the man or woman who guards judge is able to wait for the nurse’s rounds in the morning.

Notices of deaths in custody are included in the Correctional Service of Canada web site news releases.  Privacy concerns limit details:  usually only the name of the deceased and the institution where the death occurred.  Interestingly though, CSC will always include the deceased’s convictions, the length of the sentence, and the date on which the sentence began.  Almost without exception, death is due to “natural causes” or “apparent natural causes.”  Simply put, death is due to internal factors like a cancer or heart disease, and not from an external trauma.  Given what is known about prison health care, one can wonder just how “natural” a death from “natural causes” is.

Noted earlier, Correctional Service of Canada does spend millions on inmate health care every year, but the system is nonetheless badly underfunded for our prisons’ high-needs population.

To this point, the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights released its “Human Rights of Federally-Sentenced Persons” in June of 2021 which reported on page 109:  “During meetings with health care professionals as well as with federally-sentenced persons during site visits, the committee was informed that the CSC is struggling to deliver appropriate health services in a timely manner…..medical needs are going unmet or are inappropriately dealt with….the committee heard stories from witnesses and federally-sentenced persons of CSC staff withholding health care for punitive reasons.” 

In a public hearing, the Senate committee also exampled a story shared by Toni Sinclair, Executive Director, Elizabeth Fry Society of Edmonton, when she visited a woman in a federal prison.  “….when I saw her a few weeks ago, she said, ‘Toni, look,’ and she actually popped her bone out of her arm.  Like, it is completely broken.  And then when we bring it up to the warden, he says, ‘Oh you mean the woman who tried to escape and fell and broke her arm?’  As if to say because they didn’t like her behaviour that that somehow equated with not giving her adequate health care.”

Health care in our federal prisons spawns a constant stream of jolting accounts that thrashes the good work the clinics do every day.  This posting and the last three simply leave ajar the door to the CSC health care closet of nightmares.  What amazes, and what should embarrass our government and all of us in this country is how little impact the numerous organizations who call for changes has had on the system over the years.

This series will end with two tales from Brennan Guigue, who has a wealth of experience with prison health care.
Brennan is included in the Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) program for his opioid use disorder (OUD).  He is given suboxone daily but is not offered psychosocial support as is mandated by CSC’s own guidelines.  I doubt any inmate is.
Back on Wednesday, March 15 of this year at Port Cartier Institution in Quebec, he met with Dr. Geneviève Côté via video conference.  She administers the OAT program in the prison. A nurse was in the room with him.
“…..she agreed after too long (almost three months) to put my dose up .2mg to 12mg.
Gee, thanks.
Anyway….she says to me, ‘Yeah, I will put you up, but we should begin tapering down.’
‘Oh, so you’re saying that without any psychosocial counselling, or substance abuse programs, all I need to stop needing is to be on suboxone for a time and that’s it?’
‘No, no,, I’m not saying that.’
‘Okay, so how do we get at the root cause of my addiction if there are no programs?  How can you even suggest tapering down when you know the situation?’
‘Well, what about psychiatric team?’
‘Psychiatric team?’  I just began laughing, and so did the attending nurse.  ‘That’s a good one Dr. Côté.  Psychiatric team?’”

Not long after, in a letter Brennan wrote from Donnacona Institution on April 6, 2023:-
“No matter what I say to the nurses who come ‘round in the morning for a ‘wellness check,’ no matter how many times they tell me I will be seen by MH (mental health) nurse, nobody EVER shows up.
I got into a bit of an argument last Saturday because the nurse began questioning me out in the open for all to hear – guards, inmates could hear all – because I didn’t feel my privacy was being respected.
‘Why?  Why do you want to see someone from MH?  Is it urgent?’
‘I want to see MH for my mental wellness.  I’m not going to have this conversation in front of these guards and with my door wide open for all the hear!  You ask me if I’m alright and I say no, I need to see someone.  That is all that is required of me!’
Finally, I just told her to close my door and just leave me alone.”
And that’s what she did.

And so it goes, yesterday, today, and tomorrow…..