by Web Master | Oct 11, 2024 | News, News Releases
Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver, British Columbia) – Beginning on October 15, 2024, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal will hear a historic case about the rights of Deaf people in federal 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 and succeed on parole. Correctional Service Canada (“CSC”) currently has no policy outlining how they will accommodate people with disabilities in prison, and in particular people who are Deaf. They also have no policy on when ASL interpreters will be provided, leaving many Deaf people in prison without access to effective communication. Further, the Video Relay Service (“VRS”), which is how Deaf people in the community use the telephone, is not available in prison. Instead, Deaf people in federal prison use teletypewriter (“TTY”), a cumbersome and outdated technology that often scrambles messages.
This human rights case is brought by a Deaf Métis man who experienced intense isolation in federal prison due to CSC’s failure to provide sufficient access to ASL interpreters and access to VRS. This failure interfered with his ability to maintain contact with his family, receive medical services, take part in Indigenous cultural and spiritual practices, work with prison staff, succeed in the community, communicate with legal counsel, and participate in the daily life of prison. Dr. Debra Russell, the honorary president of the World Sign Language Interpreters Association, will provide expert testimony during the hearing.
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services (“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.”
The Complainant is represented by Brodie Noga and Katie Ussher of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and Jessica Magonet and Lisa Crossley of PLS.
For details on how to observe the hearing in person or virtually, please contact the Tribunal: https://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/en/human-rights/human-rights-public-hearings. The hearing will run from October 15-18, 2024 and October 28-November 1, 2024.
Media Contacts:
by Web Master | Sep 23, 2024 | News, News Releases
Victoria, BC (Lək̓ʷəŋən traditional territories) – From September 23-27, 2024, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal will continue to hear the case of Nick Dinardo (they/them), a formerly incarcerated Two-Spirit and transfeminine member of the Piapot First Nation. Mx. Dinardo is challenging the isolation, violence, and abuse they experienced in federal prisons. They argue that Correctional Service Canada discriminated against them on the basis of Indigenous identity, gender identity, religion and disability.
While Mx. Dinardo was in prison, they spent extended periods in extreme isolation, including in the Structured Intervention Unit (“SIU”). Correctional officers also used violent force against them over 45 times.
Dr. Jane Sprott, a professor in the Department of Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University, is scheduled to testify in Mx. Dinardo’s hearing on September 25 and 26. Dr. Sprott is a member of an independent panel reviewing the use of solitary confinement for people in federal prisons. She will testify about the isolation experienced by people under the SIU regime. Mx. Dinardo’s testimony will also continue from September 23-27.
For details on how to observe the virtual hearing, please contact the Tribunal: https://www.chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/en/human-rights/human-rights-public-hearings
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 Contact:
- Nicole Kief (Policy Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services) at nkief@pls-bc.ca or 604-636-0470
by Web Master | Sep 13, 2024 | News, News Releases
Prisoners’ Legal Services, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs call on Canada to act on the recommendations it adopted during its 4th Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations in March 2024. These included recommendations to:
- address structural racism in and the over-representation of Indigenous and Black people in prisons (recommendations 84, 129, 130, 133),
- improve prison conditions (recommendations 121, 122, 123, 124),
- restrict or end solitary confinement (recommendations 124, 132),
- adhere to United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) (recommendation 132), and
- invest in community-based, Indigenous-led alternatives to incarceration (recommendation 131).
We also call on Canada to retain an Indigenous organization to conduct an independent investigation into the experiences of Joey Toutsaint, a Dene man in the custody of Correctional Services Canada, who suffers from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of frequent violence from correctional officers, and the symptoms of prolonged solitary confinement. You can read our letter here.
by Web Master | Jul 23, 2024 | News, News Releases
For Immediate Release
Ottawa, ON (unceded Anishinabe Algonquin Territory) – Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS) is thrilled by the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Power, which confirms that governments aren’t protected from compensating people when they violate Charter rights by passing unconstitutional laws. The majority in this decision confirmed that Charter damages may be available when a law is clearly unconstitutional, enacted in bad faith, or an abuse of power.
This case concerned legislation that retroactively made certain people, including Mr. Power, permanently ineligible for a criminal record suspension (a pardon). Courts decided that these laws violated the Charter. Mr. Power then applied for Charter damages for the breach of his rights caused by these laws. The majority of the Supreme Court confirmed that Mr. Power could apply for Charter damages in this case.
PLS intervened at the Supreme Court, and argued that giving law makers absolute immunity from Charter damages for passing unconstitutional laws would reduce access to justice for incarcerated people and would leave them without meaningful remedies when their constitutional rights are violated.
Alexa Biscaro, of Counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright, says: “This is a critical decision that reaffirms the rule of law in Canada and the supremacy of the Canadian Charter. Ensuring that legislatures can be held to account for enacting clearly unconstitutional laws, or doing so in bad faith or through an abuse of power, brings us one step closer to the full recognition and protection of the rights of people in prison.”
Jessica Magonet, staff lawyer for PLS, says: “People in prison are frequently harmed by laws that violate the Charter, including the administrative segregation law, which authorized prolonged solitary confinement. We are very excited by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Power case, which will help ensure that incarcerated people can be compensated for the harms caused by unconstitutional laws.”
PLS was represented in this matter by Alexa Biscaro and Sarah Ivany of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada.
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
