…..AT CANADA….AGAIN?

“In this year’s Annual Report, a higher than usual number of my recommendations are directed to the Minister of Public Safety rather than the Correctional Service of Canada.  This is deliberate and consistent with section 180 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which directs that I shall provide notice and report to the Minister of Public Safety whenever the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) does not, within a reasonable time, take adequate or appropriate action to address findings and recommendations of my Office.”

This is from Correctional Investigator Dr. Ivan Zinger’s opening message in his latest Annual Report, 2022-2023.  His simmering frustration is couched in the diplomacy expected of a senior civil servant, although plain-spoken language would be warranted given the long list of grievances CSC has summarily dismissed.

On that list is what was presumed to be one resolved finding in Dr. Zinger’s 2019–2020 Annual Report: namely, a revision to Commissioner’s Directive 022 – Media Relations.  We’ve followed its meandering course to nowhere with a keen interest for over three years.

The Eiffel Tower opened in 1889, built in just 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days, considered record time and a technological feat in its day. Toronto’s CN Tower was completed in 40 months.  To date, 4 years, 4 months, and about 25 days have passed and still no new media relations policy.  Can this delay be anything other than intentionally obstructive?

April 15, 2024

Dr. Ivan Zinger, Correctional Investigator,
The Office of the Correctional Investigator,
P.O. Box 3421, Station “D”,
Ottawa, ON  K1P 6L4

Re:      Commissioner’s Directive CD 022 Media Relations

Dear Dr. Zinger:

Okay, so now what?

You and CSC Commissioner Anne Kelly met in late November 2019, to discuss your concerns with CD 022 as it related to inmate/media contacts, and then exchanged letters confirming the need for a rewrite.  Ms. Kelly noted in her February 24, 2020, letter to you that “a revision of CD 022 is currently underway,” and she expected the update would be available by June 2020.

Where is it?

There is a February 8, 2023, draft for review. I have a May 4, 2023, letter from CSC Assistant Commissioner Kirstan Gagnon that ends with, “We are now doing consultation on the CD with our executive committee, which is one of the last steps in the process.  Once we have incorporated any final input, the new CD will be approved by CSC’s Commissioner and promulgated.”

Four years and more for just one policy reform?

There must come a point where a federal government agency, namely Correctional Service of Canada in this instance, can be considered delinquent by continuing to enforce a murky grey policy that is or may be in part “unreasonable, irrelevant or not founded in law,” as you wrote in your 2019-2020 Annual Report, and “may be in violation of recognized democratic principles and constitutionally guaranteed rights.”

“The wider public has a right to be informed of what goes on behind prison walls.”

Well, does it, or doesn’t it?

Commissioner Kelly was copied.  So too was Senator Kim Pate, the public safety minister and deputy minister, the justice minister and deputy minister, an assistant CSC commissioner and deputy commissioner.
This posting will also be sent to same, plus the 36 remaining current cabinet members.

For Ivan Zinger, good luck dealing with the minister.

CSC accountable?  Don’t think so.  CSC transparent?  Don’t think so.

A BRIEF COMMENT……

Federal Conservative Party principles are more aligned with the affluent, but conservatives know they must attract working class voters to succeed at the polls.  Their tool chest’s principal “go-negative drill” and “crime spanner” appeal to the politico-lite proletariat, and so we hear that everything in the country is wrong and getting worse while crime flourishes in our neighbourhoods.

For the purposes here, we leave what is wrong or right in Canada to others, but the Conservative response to crime is rooted in the Dark Ages.  The concerning rhetoric to wrench up the fear of crime on our streets while advocating the warehousing of the criminally bent within the walls of prison industry institutions is no solution to what troubles us.  CSC’s failed mandate is of no consequence to Conservative ideology.   Progressive policies aimed at improving outcomes are of no interest.  Getting votes by stoking people’s fear is the intent, and using the public’s innocent ignorance of prison realities is an advantage.

During the almost 10 years of Conservative government under Stephen Harper, a number of politically motivated retaliatory measures in the guise of tough-on-crime reforms recalling a regressive 19^th century mindset did not withstand the test of legal challenges.  But making communities safer was never the objective; votes were the target.  Even now, there are bits and pieces of leftover Harper-inspired detritus still negatively impacting prison industry conditions.

Doug Ford’s Ontario Conservative government insists it will appoint “like-minded” judges to the provincial bench, even though that will further backlog appellate courts.  It’s seen as a vote-getter, outcomes be damned.  Likewise, the federal party’s agenda won’t give up on criminals and prison inmates as easy fodder for its election platforms, and yes, outcomes be damned.  One recent example was a private member’s bill sponsored by Conservative Public Safety and National Security “shadow minister” Pierre Paul-Hus.  Bill C-325 was a short punitive amendment to the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.  It was defeated at 2^nd reading on October 18^th last year.

This party’s prison politics calls for constant comment:-

 March 19, 2024

Pierre Paul-Hus, MP,
House of Commons,
Ottawa, ON  K1A 0A6

Re:      Tough on crime?

MP Paul-Hus:

“Only Conservatives will keep violent criminals off our streets and bring home safe streets again.  It’s just common sense.” October 16, 2023

Just politics, Mr. Paul-Hus.  Hardly common sense. 

Even now, people who commit serious crimes are warehoused by our federal prison industry in Correctional Service of Canada’s institutions, released back into the community in due time, often worse off than when they were convicted.  Commissioner Anne Kelly trumpets rehabilitative programming and mental health/drug addiction treatments that are half wishful thinking and half b.s.  Limited and restrictive resources benefit few inmates.

All the while, Conservative ‘policies’ are vengefully archaic, subject to censure and court challenges.

How about smart on crime?  Rebuild that prison industry from the ground up so it is more than simply a payroll office for over 20,000 public servants.  More importantly, make streets safer by prioritizing social program spending.

Otherwise, you’re simply a part of Conservative medievalism.

Several Conservative MPs who commented on the merits of this proposed bill were copied, including Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer, Dan Lloyd, Frank Caputo, Michael Cooper, and Chris Warkentin.

It’s sad.  Public figures using the vulnerabilities of who they see as society’s dregs to advance a twisted priority.