…..AND THE QUEST FOR TRUTH.

THREE LETTERS.

The December 3^rd posting, OPCAT! OPCAT! OPCAT! included a short excerpt from our November 13^th letter sent to six federal cabinet ministers and four deputy ministers in support of a November 1^st 3-page letter to the same group by the Office of the Correctional Investigator and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, calling for the ratification of OPCAT.

The body of the November 13^th letter is reprinted here:

Canadian human rights commission Interim Chief Commissioner Charlotte-Anne Malischewski and Correctional Investigator Dr. Ivan Zinger were far too polite in their joint November 1^st letter urging the ratification of the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

Canada has stalled on ratifying OPCAT for good reason.  Canada claims to be a champion of human rights, but it is just that.  A claim.  You and your fellow cabinet members and senior civil servants who received the November 1^st letter know Canada would not stand up to scrutiny.  We talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

I am a federal prison specialist and am well aware that Correctional Service of Canada does what it can to keep prying eyes out of its business.  Anne Kelly, her senior CSC staffers across the country, and the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers management team would have conniption fits at the prospect of compliance with OPCAT.  All the more reason to get this done and put in place.

You owe Canadians an apology for obstructing the rights of our vulnerable populations.

Shawn Tupper, Deputy Minister of Public Safety Canada responded on December 14.
In fairness to Mr. Tupper, his entire letter is published:

Thank you for your correspondence of November 13, 2023, regarding the status of Canada’s ratification of the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).

First, I want to assure you that Canada is committed to the prevention of torture, and to the elimination of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.  Torture is an abhorrent practice that Canada fervently opposes, as one of the original signatories to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

There is a strong existing framework of laws and policies in place in Canada which prohibit the use of torture, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Criminal Code, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, as well as many other legal and operational measures.

Further, I want to emphasize the strong value that Canada places on the independent oversight of conditions in places of detention, which plays a crucial role in improving conditions and preventing ill-treatment.  Canada also has many well-established, robust domestic mechanisms in place to ensure that detainees are treated in accordance with international standards.  A number of these bodies have the level of independence envisioned by the OPCAT, and many carry out visits to detention facilities on a proactive basis.

Consideration of Canada’s potential accession to the OPCAT is ongoing.  Consultations have previously been undertaken, and efforts continue to be explored within the Government of Canada to work through the range of policy and implementation considerations.

The Government of Canada remains steadfast in its commitments to the prevention of torture and the elimination of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.  We are proud of the existing robust legislative and operational foundation Canada has in this area and are committed to continued advancements.

Thank you again for taking the time to write on this important issue.

Mr. Tupper is out of touch with reality.  He is unaware of where truth is found, doesn’t want to know where truth is, or works to muddy the waters in defence of an inexcusable status quo.  No matter which, this could not go unanswered.
A January 2^nd retort to Mr. Tupper also went to the other nine on the original list, plus Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger and Canadian Human Rights Commissioner Charlotte-Anne Malischewski.

Your December 14, 2023, letter in response to mine of November 13 calling on Canada to ratify OPCAT is much appreciated.  You do know you proved my argument.

Yes, Canada ratified the Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 1987.  As you wrote, we can point to “the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Criminal Code, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, as well as many other legal and operational measures” in support of Canada’s commitment to “the prevention of torture, and to the elimination of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”  That’s the problem.  This is only window dressing without punitive enforcement of that commitment.

I’m one of innumerable Canadians who know that our federal prison industry lacks transparency and accountability.   I underwrote an action against CSC a few years ago and know government rigidity prevents the exposure of wrong-doing and absolves civil servant perpetrators as a condition of lawsuit resolutions.  I’ve learned through a freedom of information request too that the amounts of money paid out in settlements to protect CSC’s autonomy is subject to privacy legislation.  We are not to know the cost of CSC’s perfidy.

Now, less than two weeks ago on December 19, B.C. Federal Court Justice Simon Fothergill certified a class action against CSC, alleging decades of systemic anti-Black racism within our prison industry.  This adds to a long list of claims taking CSC to task for its daily violation of the safeguards you champion.

Canada has good reason to keep OPCAT considerations “ongoing.”  Does that also explain why, after four years, CSC has yet to promulgate its revised CD 022 – Media Relations?

And so, the battle goes.

And, that updated Media Relations Commissioner’s Directive is not forgotten.
More to come…..in time.