PLS Reacts: Supreme Court of Canada Confirms State Not Immune from Paying Damages for Unconstitutional Laws

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.

News Release – Federal Court Victory for Incarcerated Deaf Person

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

CAP and PLS demand Correctional Services Canada address warehousing of Indigenous prisoners and allegations of abuse

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