prisons
Bill Blair orders prison data to be turned over, but does the data even exist?
Correctional Service Canada is trying to update its inmate tracking system, while the panel tasked to study solitary confinement is still waiting for any usable information
The dark side of Canada’s coronavirus response
When it comes to protecting some of the most vulnerable—prisoners and asylum seekers—Canada is not taking any extraordinary measures
What the death of a mentally ill inmate tells us about Canadian justice
The coroner’s report on Soleiman Faqiri’s death in an Ontario prison has finally arrived. It’s long on gruesome detail and short on accountability.
The mental health crisis in Canadian prisons
Soleiman Faqiri, who died after a confrontation with prison guards, is just the latest case of an inmate with mental illness dying inside a Canadian prison
Prisons want more power to strip search in anti-drug move
It should be easier to search inmates and visitors, say regulations introduced Friday
A shocking look at American Prisons
A review of ‘Inferno: An Anatomy of Punishment’ by Robert A. Ferguson
The tough on crime era
‘The deeply embedded nastiness of the current governing party’
The Commons: Less acrimony from Vic Toews, more questions for him
The Commons: The Public Safety Minister makes himself clear
The Commons: Horrible reality intrudes
Bob Rae holds the House with questions about Ashley Smith
Equality before the law
Irwin Cotler criticizes the Harper government’s decision to cut prison chaplains.
Picking and choosing religions
Prison inmates will now only be served by Christian chaplains.
Inmates of other faiths, such as Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jews, will be expected to turn to Christian prison chaplains for religious counsel and guidance, according to the office of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, who is also responsible for Canada’s penitentiaries. Toews made headlines in September when he ordered the cancellation of a tender issued for a Wiccan priest for federal prisons in B.C.
Toews said he wasn’t convinced part-time chaplains from other religions were an appropriate use of taxpayer money and that he would review the policy. In an email to CBC News, Toews’ office says that as a result of the review, the part-time non-Christian chaplains will be let go and the remaining full-time Christian chaplains in prisons will now provide interfaith services and counselling to all inmates. “The minister strongly supports the freedom of religion for all Canadians, including prisoners,” the email states. “However, the government … is not in the business of picking and choosing which religions will be given preferential status through government funding. The minister has concluded … [Christian] chaplains employed by Corrections Canada must provide services to inmates of all faiths.”
Tough on prison guards
Prison guards are planning to protest outside the Prime Minister’s constituency office.