“…..THIS GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION AND ITS MEMBERS ARE BREAKING THE LAW BY ABUSING THE VERY PRISONERS THEY HAVE A DUTY OF CARE TO PROTECT.”  So said Justice Colette Good in March of this year, referencing the “disgusting and gross display of power” at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in December of 2023, an event that was covered up for months by our Ontario government.  Judge Good went on to summarize; “Something like this should never happen in this country.”

Well, something like this happens every day in this province, albeit small scale, unnoticed and unreported.  An anonymous spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General wouldn’t comment on the lawlessness at Maplehurst but did say that “the safety of both staff and inmates inside Ontario’s correctional institutions is of serious importance and misconduct in any form is not tolerated.”  That unnamed spokesperson is a public servant caught in a lie.

As for the videos that still exist of those two days at Maplehurst, OPSEU Correctional Division chair Janet Laverty hadn’t seen them but commented that, “In any case, videos rarely tell the whole story in context.”  Ms. Laverty knows this is a standard federal/provincial response to the relevance of prison video evidence.  It should amaze that some of us believe this pat answer stands up to scrutiny.

Before turnoverarocktoday.com, in the days of Klassen Mailing List when hard copy postings were delivered by mail, an item of timeless significance jumped out when we spotted it in the files.  This 2009 piece was sent to all Ontario jail superintendents of the day; it’s reproduced here. 

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July, 2009                        TO ONTARIO’S PROVINCIAL JAIL SUPERINTENDENTS

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN BEATEN BY GUARDS IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN INTENTIONALLY PUT IN SITUATIONS WHERE THEY WILL BE BEATEN BY OTHER INMATES IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN VERBALLY OR PHYSICALLY HARASSED WITH REMARKS BY STAFF, SUCH AS, “FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING INMATES”, “I HATE INMATES”, “WHO DO I OWE A BEATING TO TODAY”, OR BACKHANDED/SLAPPED BY STAFF, IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO IMPLIED OR OVERT RACIAL SLURS, OR SINGLED OUT FOR HARSH TREATMENT BECAUSE OF RACE, IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN DENIED A SHOWER AND A HOT MEAL ON COURT DAYS IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF CLOTHING AND/OR FOOD AND/OR BEDDING AND/OR HYGIENE PRODUCTS, OR PLACED IN SEGREGATION FOR NO SPECIFIED OR VERIFIABLE REASON, IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN THE THIRD OR FOURTH OCCUPANT IN A CELL IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE HAD THEIR CANTEEN ORDERS DESTROYED BY STAFF IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN DENIED THE USE OF A TELEPHONE, PREVENTED FROM CONTACTING THEIR LAWYERS, OR THE ONTARIO OMBUDSMAN, IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF PAPER AND/OR PENCILS TO PREVENT THE FILING OF INSTITUTIONAL FORMS SUCH AS AN “INMATE STATEMENT FORM” IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE BEEN DENIED PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS OR MEDICAL ATTENTION OR TOLD THAT MEDICATION IS A PRIVILEGE AND NOT A RIGHT IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INFRACTIONS OF POLICY, PROCEDURE AND THE LAW HAVE JAIL CHAPLAINS WITNESSED IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK, BUT CAN’T DO THEIR WORK UNLESS THEY KEEP THEIR EYES, THEIR EARS, AND THEIR MOUTHS SHUT?

HAVE JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS EACH HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORSHIP IN COMMUNITY IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY INMATES HAVE RECEIVED “PACKAGES” THROUGH THE COLLABORATION OF JAIL STAFF IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY STAFF MEMBERS ARE NOT WEARING A CORRECTIONAL SERVICE ISSUED IDENTIFICATION TAG WHILE ON DUTY, OR WEARING A CORRECTIONAL SERVICE ISSUED IDENTIFICATION TAG IMPROPERLY, IN YOUR INSTITUTION THIS WEEK?

HOW MANY LOCKDOWNS HAVE OCCURRED IN YOUR INSITUTION IN THE LAST MONTH BECAUSE OF STAFF SHORTAGES OR EXTENDED STAFF BREAKS, AND HOW MANY VISIT DAYS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED BECAUSE OF STAFF SHORTAGES, PARTICULARLY ON WEEKENDS?

WHY AREN’T RECORDS KEPT OF LOCKDOWNS AND CANCELLED VISITS IN YOUR INSTITUTIONS?

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How much has changed in fifteen years?

To close with an illuminating note from the past, about ten years ago this writer was visiting an inmate at the Toronto South Detention Centre.  All visits at Toronto South are via video.  Once approved and with an appointment, visitors are directed to a specific numbered monitor in a large room with rows of screens.  At the designated time, the inmate appears from a station on or close to his range.  On this day, a question came up in the conversation, perhaps about canteen money, and the inmate left to get an answer from a guard in the ’bubble.’  He returned a minute later with a look of silent rage and dark angry eyes.  He had asked the question.  The guard’s response was a loud, “get away from the window you piece of f……g shit.” 

Your public service at work.

What would Doug Ford say of this?  Doug Ford would say, ‘NO COMMENT.’