[Warning, this post includes graphic violence that may be disturbing to some readers/viewers.]
Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Burnaby, British Columbia) – Today, Nicholas Dinardo, a Two-Spirit Indigenous person in federal custody, makes public a video of Correctional Service Canada (CSC) officers breaking their arm in an excessive use of force. You can watch the video here (there is no audio to the video):
Mx. Dinardo obtained this and other use of force videos after filing Privacy Act requests for them, and taking CSC to Federal Court when they failed to release them well after the expiry of legislative time limits.
The video depicts an incident from May 30, 2021 at Port-Cartier Institution, where guards broke Mx. Dinardo’s arm by twisting it violently behind their back, after kicking and pushing them into their cell. Mx. Dinardo did not receive an X-ray until several days after this incident, which confirmed their arm was broken. CSC’s own internal review of this incident characterized this force as unnecessary and disproportionate. CSC Commissioner Anne Kelly has convened a National Board of Investigation to investigate this incident.
Throughout Mx. Dinardo’s imprisonment, CSC officers have repeatedly used force against them. Mx. Dinardo has been attempting to obtain the videos depicting these incidents for years, placing their first Privacy Act request for use of force records in December 2019. In September 2022, they filed lawsuits in Federal Court to force CSC to grant access to their personal information, arguing that CSC’s delays and refusals have violated their rights under the Privacy Act and the Charter.
Mx. Dinardo has also filed two human rights complaints against CSC for discriminating against them on the basis of their Indigenous identity, gender identity, religion, and mental disability. These complaints are ongoing.
Mx. Dinardo says: “I am relieved to finally have these videos so the world can see the violence and injustice I have experienced in prison. But the struggle is far from over. CSC has only released a fraction of the records I requested and am entitled to. Our court case continues.”
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services, says: “Access to information and videos regarding the government’s use of violence against people in prison is essential if we are going to have a prison system based on transparency and accountability. These rare glimpses of state violence behind prison walls should outrage the public.”
Mx. Dinardo is represented in their Federal Court litigation by Adam Goldenberg and Connor Bildfell of McCarthy Tétrault LLP and Jessica Magonet of Prisoners’ Legal Services.
You can read more about Mx. Dinardo’s Privacy Act case and human rights complaints here:
- NEWS RELEASE: Incarcerated Two-Spirit Person Sues Correctional Service of Canada for Denying Them Access to their Personal Information, Breaching Privacy Act and the Charter
- NEWS RELEASE: Two-Spirit prisoner files human rights complaint over violence and harassment in federal prisons designated for men – West Coast Prison Justice Society
- NEWS RELEASE: Correctional Service Canada uses violence and isolation to respond to self-harm and distress, human rights complaint alleges – West Coast Prison Justice Society
Media Contacts:
Nick Dinardo
To request an interview with Mx. Dinardo, contact CSC’s national media line at 613-992-7711 or email media@csc-scc.gc.ca or PACmedia@csc-scc.gc.ca
Jessica Magonet
Staff Lawyer at Prisoners’ Legal Services
jmagonet@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470