Author: turnoverarocktoday

A day in the life…….

turnoverarocktoday Brennan Guigue: Wars of my world

….. at Toronto South Detention Centre

The only place to begin is from what I believe to be the beginning.

The first time I ever came into contact with CO Casciani was sometime during the start of the week of 2016/02/13 – 20.  My schizophrenic cell mate was stressing out and wanted to leave the cell.  He expressed his wish to her and other COs working the unit (A4-B) when he left the cell to receive his methadone medication.

She had accompanied Sgt. Lawrence to my cell as he wanted to question me in regards to my cell mate wanting to vacate the cell.  The tone of St. Lawrence’s questioning was such that I felt as though he believed I was bullying, or intimidating, my cell mate in such a way as to cause him to be in fear of me…..”why is he afraid to come back to the cell?…what did you do to him?….etc., etc.”

I informed Sgt. Lawrence that I could not understand why my ‘cellie’ wanted to leave, other than the fact that he is a diagnosed schizophrenic.  Who knows what’s happening in his head?  I am not a doctor and therefore do not have the training, nor the desire for that matter, even to hazard a guess as to the motivation behind his decision.

I honestly thought we were getting along pretty good in the cell.  He had no money so I shared my canteen with him, I practiced a certain level of patience with him in the sense that as long as he agreed to shower at least once a day, and wasn’t too messy, we would get along just fine.  Also, we had agreed that I would tell him if I felt he was getting a little ‘lost’ in his ‘crazy talk’.  It was a good arrangement.  He slept for nearly three days straight, was relatively quiet, and as ‘cellies’ go, I felt he was a pretty good one.  He didn’t even snore!

As amiable as things were in the cell, there were times when his condition was apparent.  Whenever I noticed this I would engage him in conversation, or some sort of card game (crazy 8s or fishy fishy), or a board game.  Chess or backgammon were not above his intellect but his disorder made it difficult for him to concentrate.  I kept things simple, with simple games.  We settled on checkers.  Also, the institution is usually on lockdown status most weekends and the longer we remained locked in the cell, the more stressed out he got.

I have my own mental health issues – & my own stressors to deal with – and he was becoming more and more erratic (manic) which was beginning to affect my mood.   I’ve got only so much patience.  The day before he actually moved out (Sun. 13th Feb.), I had expressed my concerns to the officer on duty, and he also felt frustration about ‘Special Needs’ inmates being housed with ‘regular’ inmates.  Yes.  I was once classified ‘Special Needs’, but – after meds were regulated properly – later deemed ‘high functioning’ and so cleared from that status.

Anyway, back to what I was saying…….

I did have conversations with my “cellie” about what was bothering him and he kept saying…., “it’s nothing to do with you….I just need to be alone.”  Clearly, he was having issues regarding ‘personal space’.  I tried my best to calm his concerns but in the end (Mon, Feb. 14/16) he elected to leave.

So that was that.  CO Casciani later came to unlock for range activities and informed me that my “cellie” did NOT in fact say that he was ‘in fear of me’, but that he just wanted to be alone.  I asked her why Sgt. Lawrence would come to me from that angle…she had no answer

The next time I was the given the opportunity to see CO Casciani’s personality was later in the week (about 1 or 2 days later).  She was aggressively confronting another inmate who had become upset due to the fact that he did not receive a pair of institutional rec. shorts.  She aggressively crowded his personal space, locking eyes with him, slapping books & papers out of his hand, and physically pushing him toward his cell.  All the while yelling orders to go to his cell.  It was so intense that I honestly thought the inmate was going to punch her in the face or something….I was waiting for it.

I’ve got 21 years of federal time under my belt, probably another 5 -6 years throughout the provincial system.  Where I’ve been guards do not initiate contact with irate inmates; if anything they’re supposed to step back, charge their pepper spray canister, then issue at least 3 direct orders to comply.  If not, then the CO may give a warning that if the inmate does not cease and desist, a chemical agent will be used against him.

As far as I know from experience, (although I could be wrong), these procedures, or the like, are pretty accurate.  As far as I know, guards are not instructed to confront an angry inmate in an aggressive, confrontational manner which may escalate the situation.  Guards surely are not instructed to initiate aggressive contact (by slapping gathered items out of his hands).  He was simply gathering his personal items off the table, in the process of complying with her demands.  I guess he wasn’t moving fast enough.

I realize that this seems long-winded and tedious, but for me it’s therapeutic.  However, I do believe the effort to enlighten you on CO Casciani’s personality is relevant, as you will need to understand her in order to understand my experience in dealing with her.

So now it’s Friday, 19th February morning and I am in my cell cleaning my toilet (I bail out the water and wash the bowl with a rag…by hand).

There I am, sitting on the floor, soapy rag in my hand, soap suds up to my elbows (almost), washing my toilet.  When CO Casciani comes to unlock for range activities, she opens my door and asks, “What are you guys smoking in here?”  I look her dead in the eye, from my position on the floor in front of the toilet, and say – rather sardonically – “Really, do you see anybody smoking?”
“Well, you musta lit something because I smell smoke!”
“I don’t know, do you smell tobacco?  Do you smell marijuana?”
Still sitting on the floor in front of a soapy toilet, with her standing in my cell having an unobstructed view of exactly what I am doing….”look, if you think we’re up to something then come and search, you’re the one in charge”

Suddenly, she stars yelling at me….
“I’M ASKING YOU A QUESTION!!’

“Who the hell are you yelling at?  Don’t yell at me, that’s not how to get things done.  You’re not gonna bully me.  I see what you do with other inmates, don’t try to muscle me!  It ain’t happenin.”  She then stops out of my cell, closes the door and says, “muscle away”, just before she locks it.

So now, I’m locked up for the afternoon.  I try to reason with the other officer as he does his round, but there’s NO WAY one CO is gonna override the decision of another CO for the sake of the inmate, regardless of right or wrong.  Later that evening, CO Casciani showed up at my door with Sgt. Tsenga to inform my cell partner (new one) and I that maintenance needs to do some work on this cell, and we’ll both have to move to different cells.  We pack up and move.  He goes to #10, and I go to #5.  No problem

The vacated cell was #12 – A4-B.

I recognize this as just another example of CO Casciani’s I’m-the-boss attitude flexing her authority over me, but I say nothing.  I do however ask Sgt. Tsenga what’s wrong with the cell?  The door/lock work find, window’s okay, same with the sink/toilet…why are you really moving us?  No response given other than previously…..”maintenance.”

So now the ‘fun’ really begins….they put me in cell #5 with a guy named Michael Saraphin (Sarafin?).

…..written by Brennan Guigue, and dated Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Editor’s note:  We submitted an access to information request on May 6th of 2016….”It was not obvious or apparent that Cell 12 was in need of the maintenance attention.  Please supply a copy of the maintenance report relating to the February 19, 2016 evacuation of Cell 12, Range A4-B.”
A response from the ministry dated June 1 …..”Please be advised that access to the requested records cannot be granted, as the information does not exist.  Experienced staff familiar with the record holdings of the Ministry conducted a records search at the Toronto South Detention Centre. No responsive records were located.”

In other words, civil servants CO Casciani and Sgt. Tsenga lied.  Why?  Stay tuned.

WARS OF MY WORLD – A PROLOGUE

turnoverarocktoday Brennan Guigue: Wars of my world

It’s dinner time and he’s gonna be late……playing football with his friends in the park – he lost track of time. Huffing and puffing from rushing, he steps into the crowded elevator….#6 is already pressed.

Almost immediately, he spots a face he recognizes, and is always glad to see. It wasn’t too hard to notice the figure as he stands head and shoulders above everyone else. Then again, everybody is tall to an 8 year old! The tall dark figure and the Boy lock eyes, and the Boy obviously wants to acknowledge the man; however, he discourages the Boy by placing an extended index finger to his puckered lips…….shhhh. The Boy understands….and says nothing.

By this time, the elevator has reached the 4th, 5th floor and has emptied out somewhat; only the tall dark figure, the Boy and a couple of people remain. The 6th, 7th, and 11th floor buttons are still pressed. Noticing this, the Boy is perplexed because he knows that his building is the 2nd of two towers and is still under construction (“finishing”) from the 10th floor up to the top. The man sees this in the Boy’s eyes and when the 6th floor arrives, a discreet hand is placed on his shoulder indicating he is to remain. The Boy does not exit the elevator.

As the door closes behind the last of the passengers, the Boy questions the Familiar Man. “Hey, where are we going? We can’t go past the 10th floor. Mom’ll give me a ‘whoopin’……AND, I gotta be home for dinner!” “It’s okay, I’ll talk to your mom. D’ya wannna see what’s going on upstairs?” Excited at the prospect of exploring a construction site, and the added thrill of venturing into the forbidden….what 8 year old boy could resist?

With late dinner times and the threat of a tanned behind (Mom’s favourite term, “I’ll tan that ass, boy.”) forgotten, the Boy readily agrees to embark on the adventure. Besides, he feels comfortable and safe in the company of the `Familiar Man`, AND he`s agreed to speak on the boy`s behalf with Mom.

When the evevator door opens on the 11th floor the Boy is in wonderment at what he sees. It`s as if he has stepped out into a completely different world than the one which exists on the floors below. It`s a world filled with various tools and saws, hanging plastic sheets, and doorless apartments, unfinished marble floors….and everything covered in a fine white dust. Awesome!

However, not allowing the Boy free reign to explore, the Familiar Man leads the Boy to a small room, a garbage chute, lays the Boy down on the floor, pulls his pants and Superman underwear down to just below his buttocks. The Familiar Man lowers his own pants, and while the Boy lays on his belly on the floor of an apartment building garbage room, he is raped by the Familiar Man!

Afterwards, not understanding what has just happened, the Boy doesn`t really know how to feel. He finds himself suddenly alone on the 11th floor, alone to fix his clothes, alone to put himself back together….., alone to find his way back down to the 6th floor…..,and, alone to explain the white, chalky dust which completely covers his clothing. Explaining the state of his clothes is going to be tough as he is wearing a dark blue K-Way jacket, and a pair of black nylon Parachute pants.

Knowing he can`t tell his mother he`d been up to the 11th floor as she had explicitly forbidden him from going up there, knowing how boys are. Besides, the Familiar Man told me [sic] not to mention our [sic] little adventure to anyone, as he could get into a lot of trouble if anyone knew he`d brought a boy up there.

Worried and scared at what would happen when he got home, the Boy knew there was nothing to do but go home and face his mother. He did his best to clean up, and left the 11th floor garbage room behind.

As expected, “playing with friends“ didn`t fool Mom. She knew exactly where the white dust came from and, as promised proceeded to `tan my ass`.

Later, with an empty belly, and a sore butt, the Boy feels frustrated and angry at being left in the lurch by the Familiar Man who`d promised to advocate on his behalf, and save him from the `whoopin` he knew he was gonna get.

He didn`t know it at the time, but the Boy would come to understand that his feeling would become recognizable as betrayal.

Also, that anger and frustration would become the two most prevalent emotions in his life.

….written by Brennan Guigue, and dated Sunday, December 6, 2015

So much for the ‘law and order’ decade.

turnoverarocktoday Justice & the Penal Systems

April 7, 2017

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould,
Minister of Justice,
House of Commons,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Re: “Prisons became less deadly over past year, data show.”
        Patrick White, Toronto Globe and Mail, Friday, March 17, 2017

Dear Minister:

Patrick White’s article began, “In a single year under Liberal rule, federal prisons became less deadly, less crowded and less black, according to new data obtained by the Globe and Mail that suggested prison life has changed strikingly since the Harper Conservatives fell from power.”

The column went on to analyze the information leading to the conclusion, and referenced input from Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger, a useful observation from Jason Godin, National President of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, but only a non-committal response from a Correctional Service spokesperson.

Dr. Zinger said, “It’s quite impressive that, despite the fact there’s been no legislative changes, no regulatory changes, no injection of new money in corrections, the same commissioner, that we’ve seen a significant improvement in a number of performance indicators in health in prisons.” There are some setbacks, but “it’s mostly great news,” said the CI.

Minister, with my contacts in the work I do, one seasoned federal prison inmate was not surprised by the changes. As he put it in so many words, of course the anger over Harper’s perspective would give way to optimism with Trudeau’s refocus.

Those rehabilitative and progressive measures to which Ivan Zinger referred are an important and necessary component to trending changes for the better. Please make them happen.

Yours truly,

Charles H. Klassen

cc The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Dr. Ivan Zinger

After bleak decade under Harper era, officials speculate on why a ‘significant improvement’ under Trudeau.

So ran the tag under the headline for the Patrick White Globe article on March 17.

Correctional Investigator Dr. Ivan Zinger published sombre numbers last year looking at federal prison life during the decade under Stephen Harper. Health indicators spiked from the 2005-06 fiscal year to 2014-15 showing serious increases in bodily injuries, attempted suicides, double-bunking, suicides, deaths in custody, the gassing of inmates, and increases in black, aboriginal and female inmates. But, when the figures for the year immediately following Justin Trudeau’s election were compiled, all those 10-year trends ‘suddenly and inexplicably nose-dived.’

Not all areas improved. Inmate-on-inmate assaults still increased by 14 per cent, and while use of force against inmates by guards declined by 6 per cent after climbing nearly 50 per cent during the Conservative era, the use of chemical sprays against inmates grew almost 7 percent, and that after increasing 236 per cent during the previous ten years.

Perhaps that helps explain Michael Tutton’s Canadian Press article published in the Toronto Star shortly before on Tuesday, February 28. “Number of prison lawsuits tops 1,200”, where the same Correctional Investigator Zinger says that inmate-on-inmate and guard violence must be addressed.

There were 1203 active cases against CSC as of the end of March in 2016, handled by about 15 lawyers on Correctional Services Canada staff; the federal Department of Justice is used for additional legal advice. CSC is paying out around $10 million in legal fees, and a further $643,000 in out-of-court settlements during the year.

Zinger suggests that when families and inmates are asked to remain silent about the details of settlements, it can reduce the incentive for change in the Service. ”That’s an awful lot of energy devoted to fighting lawsuits and I’m of the view some of that energy could be better channeled by developing strategy to reduce the number is issues raised in the lawsuits,” he said.

In response, Correctional Services said it considers the correctional investigator’s views, but there is no indication it plans to decrease the number of non-disclosure agreements, or address actions to lower the number of legal actions.

So be it. It’s only your money, after all.

The Neptune Four – waiting, waiting, waiting

turnoverarocktoday Policing

Confidence and trust….still an illusion.

We introduced a story on March 13 of last year, a story which began in November of 2011 when four teenage boys were stopped by police in the common area of their Neptune Drive housing complex. “Confidence and trust” positioned Toronto police chief Mark Saunders’ call for building and restoring public faith in our police service against one particular police-negative incident. We included our March 10 letter to Chief Saunders which criticized the delay in resolving the questions around the behaviour of his officers on that day in 2011, and the failure to reach an accommodation for punitive damages with these four black teenagers.

The teens, now known as ‘The Neptune Four’, filed a suit against the police. Two of the five officers named in the suit also face a total of four misconduct charges under the Police Act, the two who had originally stopped the young men. The Ontario Human Rights Commission applied to participate in the police tribunal disciplinary hearing to ensure racial profiling was considered as playing a role in that interaction with police on November 21 in 2011.

That hearing was not scheduled to begin until October of last year, five years after the incident!

We ran “The Neptune Four – an update” on October 9. By that time, the tribunal had considered the OHRC intervenor status application. That was denied on Monday, July 11 last year because a hearing officer ruled that the tribunal didn’t have the ability to grant the commission’s involvement. The Toronto Star’s Jim Rankin was as frustrated by that decision as we were, and the paper published a July 15 editorial, calling for changes to the rules, citing there was time to do just that before the hearing was to begin in October.

Nothing happened.

Since then, and shortly before the tribunal was to start, one of the two subject officers submitted a motion to have a police inspector acting as the hearing officer – the tribunal judge – removed, claiming possible bias. The motion alleged that this adjudicator had recently committed a misconduct himself and was “let off the hook” by Toronto police.

The motion said there was a reasonable perception an impartial decision could not be reached, because the lawyer representing this subject officer had previously spoken for another officer against that inspector in his own tribunal hearing, referring to an order he had issued as “unlawful, outrageous, and criminal.”

The motion to have the hearing officer removed was argued at a Toronto police tribunal in December, and with that same particular police inspector adjudicating. And, that inspector’s 78 page decision came down on Friday, March 3 of this year, clearing himself of bias. The report concluded the motion failed to show enough grounds to justify his removal from the case, and that the claims in it were assumptions only.

So now, when will all this move forward? Our only suggestion is to stay tuned.

To quote from the October 9 posting, “We shouldn’t be surprised if this hearing drags on for months, with postponements, delays, and legal challenges. One thing we can conclude with certainty. In the end, the City of Toronto and its taxpayers will be turning over a handsome albeit undisclosed and confidential settlement to the complainants.”

Confidence and trust? There are many Neptune-Four-type cases in a city the size of Toronto, each with its own champions. Some wait too many years for resolution, some never get to that point, some do. No matter. The police are first and foremost at our service, but for as long as there remains no completely impartial and at-arms-length process to referee conflicts we have with our officers, and bring these to a timely and speedy conclusion, trust remains an elusive end.

“Cells……♫ cells for ♪ sale, or rent ♫

turnoverarocktoday Justice & the Penal Systems

….♫ rooms to ♪ let, 50 cents ♫.”

The New York Times ran a story in late February under Dan Bilefsky’s byline which began, “The Netherlands has a problem many countries can only dream of: A shortage of prison inmates.”

About a third of Dutch prison cells are empty, attributed to a ‘spectacular’ drop in crime over the last twenty years, and a national preference for rehabilitation over incarceration. There was a upswing in prison populations there in the 90s, but the Netherlands now imprisons only about 61 of every 100,000 citizens, similar to Scandinavia. The United States, on the other hand, puts about 666 of every 100,000 citizens in prison, the highest in the world.

Norway negotiated an agreement with the Dutch two years ago for a three-year lease of a high-security facility and sent 242 prisoners there. They’re paying $35 million per year for the use of this prison, and Belgium is also making use of Dutch jails, sending about 500 inmates across the border.

Even more cells will become surplus over the next few years. As one criminologist explained, the Dutch have a deeply ingrained pragmatism when it comes to regulating law and order. “Prisons are very expensive,” this professor at Erasmus School of Law in Rotterdam rationalized. There is a relatively liberal approach to soft drugs and prostitution, and the Netherlands is more focused on what works and what is effective, while people in the United States, for instance, make moral arguments for imprisonment.

The Dutch have also become creative with the vacancy rates by transforming jails into housing for asylum seekers, converting cells into apartments for families, and where the interior exercise yards, gymnasiums, kitchens and outdoor gardens have a practical benefit. High exterior walls and barbed wire are removed, but care is taken not to house former political prisoners in cells, unless they feel at ease.

Not everyone is happy. About 2,600 prison guards could lose their jobs in the next four years as more prisons close. The government doesn’t want to give up too many jobs, as this political football can play out to the disadvantage of the present centre-right party in control. As a spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Security and Justice put it, the surplus of empty jail cells is “good and bad news at the same time.”

This isn’t an environment that’s generated in a vacuum, with no explanation, or can be simply written off to happenstance. This comes with a concerted effort to question the status quo, think outside the lock-em-up box, and take bold steps to take a different road. Separating some people from the community in a custodial setting will continue to be a reality for now, but there is an illogic to a prison-based system of justice. One perspective is in the form of a poem reprinted in Baz Dreisinger’s book, “Incarceration Nation”:-

We want them to be responsible,
So we take away all responsibilities.
We want them to be positive and constructive,
So we degrade them and make them useless.
We want them to be nonviolent,
So we put them where there is violence all around them.
We want them to quit being the tough guy,
So we put them where the tough guy’s respected.

Now, that makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it!

No comment, Minister?

turnoverarocktoday Justice for Brennan Guigue

Matthew Hines died in the Dorchester Penitentiary on May 27, 2015. For 13 months, his family in Cape Breton believed what they were told by Correctional Service of Canada, which said that Hines, who had a history of seizures, died from a drug-induced seizure.

So began “What say you, Minister?,” a post from September 25 last year. There was much more to the death of Matthew Hines than Correctional Service of Canada first let on. Just so, there is much more to Brennan Guigue’s experience in July of 2014 at the Regional Reception Centre in Montreal than the agency has so far admitted. Brennan Guigue survived his ordeal at the hands of CSC employees and is participating with his attorneys to uncover what information and evidence CSC has been reluctant to share.

Our September 19 letter last year to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has gone unanswered (it was reprinted in that September 25 posting). Not that a response is anticipated or always welcome, but it is typical for politicians to avoid writing when they cannot see a way to score points, valid or otherwise. More so, it is annoying for public servants to pretend a thorny issue can be sidestepped by simply dismissing its existence.

turnoverarocktoday is annoyed.

Our second letter went out to Mr. Goodale not long ago. We would be surprised to hear from the minister, but if our attempt to pry one from his office puts him off his lunch, we’ve been successful. In the meantime, Brennan Guigue and his team are moving forward.

February 24, 2017

The Honourable Ralph Goodale,
Minister of Public Safety,
House of Commons,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Re: Matthew Hines/Brennan Guigue
My September 19, 2016 letter

Dear Minister Goodale:

Again, I quote from the statement released by your office Wednesday evening, August 24, of last year regarding the May 27, 2015 death of inmate Matthew Hines at Dorchester Penitentiary.

“But let me be clear that there can be no tolerance for inappropriate use of force or other serious misconduct.”

You were commenting on the actions of men and women in your employ and acting under your authority. My September 19, 2016 letter went on to reference another questionable incident from July of 2014 at the Regional Reception Centre in Ste-Anne-des-Plaines north of Montreal.

What say you, Minister, I asked back in September.

Certainly, one would have expected you and your immediate subordinates to have issued directives to Correctional Service of Canada by now aimed at minimizing the likelihood of any repetition of “inappropriate use of force or other serious misconduct.”

My readers and I would welcome an update.

Yours truly,

Charles H. Klassen

cc Honourable Bill Morneau/Stephen Fineberg/Brennan Guigue/turnoverarocktoday.com

Cat got your tongue, sir?

Segregation – a federal snapshot II

turnoverarocktoday Justice & the Penal Systems

……continued from March 5

Last December, Correctional Service of Canada reiterated that it doesn’t use solitary confinement because, for instance, inmates in “administrative segregation” have daily visits from wardens, health-care personnel and other staff. The Globe and Mail reported that prisoner-rights advocates found the argument preposterous. Wardens or their agents are required to visit segregation units daily, but what turnoverarocktoday knows is those ‘visits’ often amount to a simple step into the range, the exchange of a few words with guards, and the signing of the log. Regardless, all communication between inmates and staff members is through a small hatch in the cell door, hardly a ‘visit’ or meaningful human contact.

This particular reference by CSC to its isolation practices is in reaction to a suit filed last October by three inmates at Edmonton Institution, claiming damages totaling $5.6-million. The men contend long periods of segregation without social interaction led to health effects including major depression, paranoia, rage, self-harm and disrupted sleep patterns. The lawsuit uses a variety of international academic and anecdotal sources that support the Mandela Rules, maximizing the use of solitary confinement to 60 days in a calendar year, and which was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The John Howard Society’s executive director Catherine Latimer says CSC will face an uphill battle trying to prove the defense it filed claiming Canadian segregated inmates do not suffer, and their well-being is monitored to ensure no adverse effects.

Now, Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell certified a class-action against Correctional Service of Canada on Monday, December 12 of last year, the first lawsuit in Canada on behalf of federal inmates alleging the use of solitary confinement and inadequate access to medication has violated the rights of tens of thousands of mentally ill inmates. In certifying the claim, the judge said the case hinges on whether CSC violated Charter sections 7 (life, liberty, security of the person), 9 (against unfair detainment), and 12 (freedom from cruel and unusual punishment) in its operation of federal prisons and whether the potential violations warrant damages. Both the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail reported on this lawsuit during that middle week of December.

Then in mid-February, another judge declared a rare postconviction mistrial in the case of a 33 year-old Yukon inmate, housed in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, who has spent more time in custody awaiting trial and sentencing, including more than three years in solitary confinement, than his original crime would have warranted. His mental health deteriorated to a point where he was ruled unfit to participate in any proceedings against him. The court has just ordered a second trial but the outcome is in question, given the man’s mental health status.

To cap off a call for reform, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, representing around 35,000 family doctors, issued a statement on February 27 calling for an all-out ban on solitary confinement in Canada’s provincial jails and federal prisons. “Ethical, moral and professional obligations” of family doctors compelled the organization to take a strong position on the practice. “The use of solitary confinement can have a negative impact on a person’s health and can worsen pre-existing conditions, and it can be especially detrimental for youth and prisoners who suffer from mental illness,” said Ruth Martin, chair of the college’s Prison Health Program Committee.

Remember, these men and women who have experienced the negative impact of isolation, and prolonged isolation in many cases, will one day be returned to the community. They will be our neighbours, the person driving the car behind us, or sitting next to us on the bus. There is only a hair’s breadth between a constructive, contributing member of society, and a liability on our shared resources.

Whither goest thou?

Segregation – a federal snapshot

turnoverarocktoday Justice & the Penal Systems

“Please note that the term ‘solitary confinement’ is not applicable within the Canadian penitentiary system,” says Correctional Service of Canada.

This is a lie! This is a lie perpetuated over a long period by civil servants living off the public purse, whose self-serving agenda facilitates a medievalist mind-set intended to thwart reforms to bring our penal systems into line with 20th and 21st century revisionists.

Call it what you will, any time a person is placed in a barren cell with limited access to resources usually available to prison inmates, and held in such limbo for 23 or more hours per day, that is solitary confinement.

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society were scheduled to be in court on January 3rd of this year to begin the first ever comprehensive challenge of solitary confinement practices in federal prisons. As their literature put it, “International bodies and experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, have been unwilling to mince words. Solitary by any other name is still torture.”

In the middle of December last year, a judge postponed the start of the case until July 4 due to a “reasonable expectation” that federal legislation will be enacted. BCCLA and John Howard will continue to prepare their case to ensure proposed reforms meet the expected standards.

The West Coast Prison Justice Society, another British Columbia group representing federal prisoners in that province issued a 112-page report last November calling for the total abolishment of solitary confinement across Canada. They argue the point at which the use of segregation is considered to cross the line of torture or cruel treatment is a subjective assessment that cannot be left in the domain of regressive agendas.

Jason Godin, who is the national president of the 7,400-member Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, called that proposal “absurd”, but then, these are the same men and women who have supported a discredited practice. More, the union has never called for a review of segregation its members know has had considerable negative outcomes for hundreds of inmates every year. To boot, it has criticized the reduction in the use of solitary confinement by Correctional Service of Canada, and has called Justin Trudeau’s intended prison reforms unreasonable. In the meantime, CSC’s own data does not reflect a rise in prison violence.

Yes, Correctional Service of Canada has been ‘drawing down’ the use to solitary confinement. Our perspective can be found in the February 19 posting, “Segregation….another stench from under ‘a rock’.” And, as Jason Godin and his union were making their objections last October to possible changes, both the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail published editorials calling for action to end the government’s abuse of human rights

……more to come March 12

Hellhole, you say.

turnoverarocktoday Justice & the Penal Systems

“Riots. Stabbings. Beatings. Lockdowns. THE $1-BILLION HELLHOLE.”

This is from the cover of the March issue of Toronto Life magazine, printed over a photo of the Toronto South Detention Centre, which “was supposed to be a state-of-the-art superjail. Instead, it’s a total disaster.”

Raizel Robin, a Toronto freelance writer/journalist with a long list of wide-ranging writing credits, conducted over 50 interviews preparing this story. She made attempts to meet and speak with Brennan Guigue, an inmate in Toronto South at the time, but was blocked by the institution’s visiting policies, and the head of security. Nonetheless, he was able to get some of his written material to her which is included in her research.

On the morning of Thursday, February 16, the day before the magazine issue was on the newsstands, Raizel guested on CBC radio’s Metro Morning, hosted by Matt Galloway out of Toronto. At one point, she said that Toronto South inmates were so often locked down for long periods that the men don’t know just when they would be let out. When Matt asked what that must be like, Raziel referred to an inmate who had told her to imagine being locked in your bathroom for 24 hours. That relevant analogy came from Brennan Guigue.

CBC asked Community Safety & Correctional Services for a comment on the Toronto Life story. The most current minister, Marie-France Lalonde, came back with a long and old toe-the-CSCS-line-policy-statement that means nothing at all…..but says everything.

A letter had gone to the new minister soon after her appointment:-

January 20, 2017

The Honourable Marie-France Lalonde,
Minister of Community Safety & Correctional Services,
18th Floor, George Drew Building,
25 Grosvenor Street,
Toronto, ON M7A 1Y6

Dear Minister:

You are a brave politician to take on CSCS at a point when the ministry is coming under increased scrutiny and facing several legal challenges. And so it should. I’ve been nipping at its heels for twenty-five years.

I have two suggestions.

The bureaucrats who people 25 Grosvenor will go a long way to keep you occupied and away from the many closets in the agency. Lord forbid that you should peek inside any one of them.

When presented with a stack of files for your attention, start at the bottom. That’s where the good stuff is hidden.

In hopes that this note actually ends up on your desk, I am,

Yours truly,

Charles H. Klassen

Guess we didn’t make an impression.

Not willing to leave it be, another short letter went to the minister on February 22. The body is reprinted here:-

Re: The $1-Billion Hellhole

Dear Minister:

I can’t believe the response you and your ministry gave to Matt Galloway of CBC’s Metro Morning when he asked for a reaction to the March Toronto Life cover story on the Toronto South Detention Centre.

Raizel Robin had much more material than she needed or used in the article. I know, because I was one of her contributors. There are thousands, even tens of thousands of people in this province who are better informed than you appear to be.

Looks like you didn’t take the advice in my January 20th letter.

As it is now, it seems you’ve only taken a few weeks on the job to go over to ‘the dark side.’

Yours truly,

God grant the legal actions against the government will cost Ontario millions….will cost you millions.

“The $1-Billion Hellhole” is available on-line at http://www.torontolife.ca.

Segregation……another stench from under ‘a rock’.

turnoverarocktoday Justice & the Penal Systems

This is another item from the root cellar waiting for ‘screen time’.

Back on October 12 of last year, the Globe and Mail ran “Use of solitary in federal prisons plummets” under Patrick White’s byline. The story begins with, “Canada’s prison agency has halved the number of inmates it keeps in indefinite solitary confinement over the past two years……”

Correctional Service of Canada wouldn’t admit outside pressure influenced the changes, but there is no question CSC is attempting to to curry favour with the Justice Minister. What Don Head and the rest of the prison management team do not want is any intrusion into their domain, and will do what it can to thwart efforts to bring Correctional Service of Canada into the 20th century, let alone 2017.

Nick Fabiano is CSC’s director-general of security….at least he was last fall. After reading his comments on the subject, we had to jump in:-

October 17, 2016

Nick Fabiano, Director-General, Security,
Correctional Service of Canada,
340 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0P9

Re: Solitary confinement

Mr. Fabiano:

“There’s been a collective push among all of management to ensure that we’re exercising our responsibilities and due diligence.” Nick Fabiano, Globe and Mail, October 12

Cow cookies!

The management team at Correctional Service of Canada has not only had ample opportunities over decades to introduce progressive policies without outside prompting, but the agency has been emphatically encouraged to do so for years from any number of knowledgeable and expert resources, here and elsewhere. That it stubbornly resisted and even rejected recommendations outright is a true measure of CSC’s medievalist mentality.

What you and the others at 340 Laurier Avenue West are now doing is attempting to stave off legislated changes to CSC policies and practices. If you can convince the government that you’re moving in the direction you should have taken long ago, then perhaps it will leave you alone to go right back to the dark ages.

“I don’t think this issue (solitary confinement) will be solved without legislative changes,” is how Howard Sapers sees it. He’s right, and not only on the question of the use of segregation, but in so many areas where the Service has refused to let in the light.

Yours truly,

Charles H. Klassen

cc Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, Hon. Ralph Goodale,
Howard Sapers, Com. Don Head, Patrick White-Globe and Mail

It wasn’t just Mr. Fabiano’s remark quoted at the start of our letter that offends, but he went on later to say that, “we are providing advice on that front”, referring to the government’s goal to have the Service implement the recommendations of the Ashley Smith inquest. Good grief, CSC has diligently ignored and subverted as many of those proposals as it can.

Cow cookies, indeed!