by Web Master | May 15, 2024 | News, News Releases
Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Burnaby, British Columbia) – Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS) announces that the Federal Court has cancelled a decision finding one of its clients, who is Deaf and Indigenous, guilty of a serious disciplinary offence.
The client was given an institutional charge by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) for refusing to provide a urine sample for the purposes of random urinalysis. No American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter was present when the urine sample was requested or when he was charged. At the prison disciplinary hearing, the client explained that he was unable to provide a sample because he was on hunger strike to protest the discrimination faced by Deaf people in prison. He was found guilty of this disciplinary offence in serious court.
PLS filed an application for judicial review of this decision in Federal Court, arguing it was unreasonable and discriminatory. The Federal Court cancelled the decision after a motion was brought on consent of the parties.
PLS is also representing this client in a complaint at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal about CSC’s systemic discrimination against Deaf people in prison. It is widely acknowledged that Deaf people in prison face extreme isolation, which has severe psychological effects and makes it much harder for them to access parole. They also face barriers to accessing supports while on parole. CSC currently has no policies that outline how they will accommodate people with disabilities in prison, and in particular people who are Deaf. Further, the Video Relay Service (VRS), which is how Deaf people in the community use the telephone, is not available in prison.
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of PLS, states: “CSC has a duty to accommodate Deaf people in prison. It must immediately take steps to ensure that Deaf and hard of hearing people have adequate access to ASL interpreters, and it must implement VRS in prisons across the country.”
Jessica Magonet, Staff Lawyer at PLS, states: “We are thrilled that the Federal Court has exonerated our client and we are inspired by his commitment to improving the lives of Deaf people in prison.”
This client was represented in this matter by Jessica Magonet (Staff Lawyer) and Max McQuaig (Articling Student) of PLS.
Media Contact: Jessica Magonet, PLS Staff Lawyer at 604-636-0470 or jmagonet@pls-bc.ca
by Web Master | Mar 25, 2024 | News Releases
WHAT: Statement to United Nations Human Rights Council by Indigenous and prison rights organizations in response to Canada’s Universal Periodic Review
WHEN: March 25, 2024
WHERE: 55th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland – live broadcast at https://webtv.un.org/en
Geneva, Switzerland – On March 25, 2024, Dene lawyer Jennifer Duncan is in Geneva to speak to the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit, the BC First Nations Justice Council and Prisoners’ Legal Services. Duncan’s comments focus on Canada’s mass incarceration of Indigenous people, and call for a redirection of resources and authority from colonial prisons to Indigenous governments and organizations to decarcerate Indigenous people and build alternatives to address harm based on Indigenous legal systems and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Duncan will also call for an end to solitary confinement and solitary-like conditions and for Canada to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Ms. Duncan’s comments are in response to Canada’s Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”). The UPR allows United Nations member states to review the human rights records of their peers. Canada’s UPR took place at the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in November 2023, when Canada was questioned by several states about the mass incarceration of Indigenous people. At the meeting in March 2024, Canada’s Final UPR Report will be adopted, including which recommendations Canada will support.
Ms. Duncan’s comments are available here: Oral Statement Canada UPR 2024
Written comments from the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit, the BC First Nations Justice Council, the BC Assembly of First Nations and Prisoners’ Legal Services are available here.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Duncan
Barrister & Solicitor
JDuncan@duncanco.ca
778-840-8212
by Web Master | Mar 1, 2024 | News, Uncategorized
On February 28, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the BC First Nations Justice Council, the First Nations Summit and Prisoners’ Legal Services wrote to the Chief Coroner to request an inquest into the death of Kendal Campeau, of the Yellow Quill First Nation, who passed away while in the custody of the Correctional Service Canada. Mr. Campeau reported horrendous abuse in custody. We hope an inquest into his death will help to draw attention to the urgent need for alternatives to prison for Indigenous people that are culturally safe and based on Indigenous law.
Click here to read the letter requesting an inquest.
Click here to read a news release regarding PLS’ calls for CSC to consider systemic abuse of Indigenous people in its investigation into Mr. Campeau’s death.
by Web Master | Feb 20, 2024 | News, News Releases
Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Burnaby, British Columbia) / Unceded Algonquin Territory (Ottawa, ON) — Today, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) and Prisoners’ Legal Services (PSL) wrote to Correctional Service Canada (“CSC”) to raise the alarm about the warehousing of Indigenous people in the federal prison system and CSC’s role in perpetuating the mass incarceration of Indigenous people.
The letter highlights the case of Joey Toutsaint, a Dene man who has spent approximately 18 years in custody. The letter explains the extensive harms done to Mr. Toutsaint by the prison system, including through physical violence and long-term solitary confinement, and how these harms have prevented him from reentering the community, contrary to the legislative purpose of CSC.
The organizations called on CSC to convene an independent, Indigenous-led investigation into allegations of staff misconduct and abuse against Mr. Toutsaint, including allegations that officers at Edmonton Institution allowed other prisoners into Mr. Toutsaint’s cell to rape him when he was still a teenager, shortly after he first entered the federal prison system.
“While the government trumpets the importance of reconciliation, its policies continue to fill prisons with our people while authorities ignore shocking allegations of abuse,” says CAP National Vice-Chief Kim Beaudin. “Canada’s justice system is concrete proof that the policies that attempted to steal our cultures and youth are still alive and well.”
“Joey and other Indigenous people in prison do not need more CSC ‘intervention’. They have the right to healing in a restorative and culturally-appropriate environment”, said Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services. “Conditions in CSC prisons are not safe or humane, and CSC is not preparing Indigenous people for reintegration into the community – instead, they are causing further harm and disconnection. That is why Prisoners’ Legal Services has called on Canada to redirect $1 billion annually from CSC to Indigenous governments and organizations to provide alternatives to prison for Indigenous people. $1 billion represents one-third of CSC’s annual budget, and a fair proportion of funding given that approximately one-third of people in federal prisons are Indigenous.”
A copy of the letter is available here: Letter to CSC from CAP and PLS.
Media Contacts:
Nigel Newlove
Director of Communications, CAP
n.newlove@abo-peoples.org
613-286-9828
Jennifer Metcalfe
Executive Director, Prisoners’ Legal Services
jmetcalfe@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470
by Web Master | Feb 8, 2024 | News, News Releases, Uncategorized
Victoria, BC (Lək̓ʷəŋən traditional territories) – From Monday, February 12 until Thursday, February 15, 2024 the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal will hear the case of Nick Dinardo (they/them), a formerly incarcerated Two-Spirit and transfeminine member of the Piapot First Nation. Mx. Dinardo will argue that Correctional Service Canada (“CSC”) discriminated against them on the basis of race, religion, gender identity, and disability during their time in federal prison.
While Mx. Dinardo was in prison, correctional officers used violent force against them over 45 times. These uses of force included breaking their arm, pepper spraying them when they self-harmed, and shooting them with a rubber bullet in the face. The video footage of officers breaking their arm, which was obtained through a Privacy Act request, is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4fceEaLZh8&t=5s. Mx. Dinardo also spent extended periods isolated in the Structured Intervention Unit, for periods as long as 181 consecutive days.
Further, Mx. Dinardo faced significant harassment and abuse as a transfeminine person incarcerated in prisons designated for men. CSC repeatedly refused Mx. Dinardo’s requests to transfer to prisons designated for women. In their case, Mx. Dinardo is seeking systemic remedies to improve the lives of gender diverse people and people with disabilities in prison.
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services, says: “Mx. Dinardo’s treatment in federal prison is a national disgrace. We are inspired by their courage to take on CSC and fight for change.”
Nicole Kief, Policy Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services, says: “No one should suffer the kinds of indignities and abuses that Mx. Dinardo experienced in prison. The injustices raised in this case are systemic, and CSC must change its policies to comply with the Canadian Human Rights Act.”
For details on how to observe the hearing, please contact the CHRT:
https://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/operations/upcoming-hearings-en.html#:~:text=How%20to%20contact%20us%20to,make%20sure%20it%20will%20proceed
Mx. Dinardo is represented by David Taylor, Christopher Trivisonno, and Maritza Woel of Conway Baxter Wilson LLP and Jessica Magonet of Prisoners’ Legal Services.
Media Contacts:
Jennifer Metcalfe
jmetcalfe@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470
Nicole Kief
nkief@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470
