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