by Web Master | May 3, 2019 | News, Submissions
The Correctional Service Canada classifies prisoners to higher security if they have a high “institutional adjustment” rating. Prisoners’ Legal Services is concerned that this factor is being applied in a discriminatory way against vulnerable groups, including Indigenous prisoners and those who suffer from mental disabilities. Click here to read our open letter to CSC Commissioner Anne Kelly.
by Web Master | Feb 28, 2019 | News Releases
February 27, 2019 – Burnaby – Prisoners’ Legal Services
Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS) filed an injunction in federal court on behalf of Joey Toutsaint, a federal prisoner with serious mental health issues who has spent more than 2,000 days in segregation in Correctional Service Canada custody. Mr. Toutsaint is currently in segregation at Saskatchewan Penitentiary, where he is self-harming on a regular basis and says he thinks of suicide almost every day. The injunction argues he is at risk of death if he is not transferred to a treatment centre.
“It is unconscionable that someone with Mr. Toutsaint’s mental health issues would be held for so long by the government in conditions the United Nations considers torture or cruel treatment,” said Nicole Kief, a Legal Advocate at Prisoners’ Legal Services. “If he isn’t considered inadmissible to segregation, it is hard to imagine who would be.”
Mr. Toutsaint is an Indigenous man from northern Saskatchewan who grew up on the Black Lake Denesuline First Nation reserve. He experienced trauma as a young person that continued during his time in prison. He spent several years at Edmonton Institution, now notorious for its culture of fear, intimidation and bullying, where he suffered both physical and sexual violence. Mr. Toutsaint was recently diagnosed by an independent psychiatrist with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder.
Mr. Toutsaint has a very lengthy history of self-injury, which includes cutting, head-banging, punching himself in the face, choking himself and biting himself. He has been on suicide watch numerous times and placed in restraints to prevent him from hurting himself. He has been OC sprayed and confronted by guards in riot gear (known as the Emergency Response Team) in response to his self-harming. In May of 2018, he slit his throat, severing his jugular vein and suffering extensive blood loss.
“My body is covered in scars. I used to cut from side to side, but now I go up and down because I’m running out of space. I used to take out my anger on other people, but now I take it out on myself. I feel broken,” Mr. Toutsaint said. “When I worry that the Emergency Response Team is coming, I wait with a razor blade to my neck. I’ve been through that so many times and I can’t go through that again.”
In June of 2017, a CSC psychologist found that Mr. Toutsaint’s mental health was deteriorating in segregation. An independent psychiatrist also concluded, in October of 2018, that Mr. Toutsaint’s psychiatric problems were greatly exacerbated by his isolation and that being in solitary confinement was making him more suicidal.
Despite these findings, Mr. Toutsaint has continued to be placed in isolation, where he continues to self-harm on a regular basis. CSC mental health staff have repeatedly found him fit to remain in segregation.
“Mr. Toutsaint’s case illustrates the need for independent health care services for prisoners in Canada. Why does an independent psychiatrist consider him to be clearly suffering from major mental illnesses and at risk of suicide in segregation, while CSC health care professionals consider him fit for segregation?” said Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services.
Mr. Toutsaint has made numerous requests to be transferred to a treatment centre to get help with his mental illnesses and his self-harming. These requests have gone unanswered.
In May of 2018, PLS assisted Mr. Toutsaint in filing a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission about discrimination on the basis of his mental disability and his Indigenous identity.
Today’s injunction asks the court to move Mr. Toutsaint to the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon and provide him with meaningful treatment for his trauma and loss as well as access to Dene traditional practices, arguing that failure to do so would place him at high risk of life-threatening self-harm and even death.
Media contacts:
Jennifer Metcalfe
jmetcalfe@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470
Nicole Kief
nkief@ps-bc.ca
604-636-0470
by Web Master | Feb 22, 2019 | News Releases
February 22, 2019 – Burnaby – Prisoners’ Legal Services
Maximum security Kent Institution has canceled Prisoners’ Legal Services’ legal clinics for segregated prisoners, despite the BC Court of Appeal’s January 7, 2019 order that segregated prisoners must be provided enhanced rights to legal counsel.
PLS has been providing the bi-monthly clinics to prisoners in Kent’s segregation unit since February 2015. PLS started the clinics in recognition that prisoners with severe mental health issues often end up in segregation. These prisoners may not know that legal services exist or seek out legal services by phone.
Research demonstrates that segregation can result in depression and feelings of hopelessness. Symptoms of existing mental disabilities can be exacerbated in segregation. The United Nations considers the use of solitary confinement for more than 15 days, or for any amount of time for someone with an existing mental disability, to constitute torture or cruel treatment.
“Some prisoners with serious mental disabilities end up doing a cross-country tour of maximum security segregation units, in what feels like an endless cycle of isolation. These prisoners may not know that legal help is available to them in British Columbia”, said Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director of PLS.
“Some prisoners with mental disabilities need to develop a trusting relationship with legal service providers, which can only be done face-to-face. The clinics were intended to ensure that the most vulnerable prisoners have access to legal services to assist them to get out of solitary confinement as soon as possible”, said Ms. Metcalfe.
On January 15, 2019, Kent’s Assistant Warden of Management Services notified PLS that Kent has canceled the clinics without explanation. PLS followed up with the Warden of Kent on January 18, 2019 and with the acting Deputy Commissioner for the Pacific Region on January 28, 2019. PLS did not receive a response until after it contacted CSC Commissioner, Anne Kelly, on February 6, 2019.
On February 8, 2019, Cari Turi, the acting Pacific Region Deputy Commissioner for CSC confirmed the cancellation of the clinics, citing the BC Court of Appeal’s January 7, 2019 order for additional policies and procedures in relation to segregation as the reason that Kent is “no longer able to accommodate the group clinics”.
“We are dismayed that Kent is not following the spirit of the BC Court of Appeal’s order by further restricting segregated prisoners’ access to legal support when they need it the most”, said Ms. Metcalfe.
Media contact:
Jennifer Metcalfe
jmetcalfe@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470
by J Metcalfe | Jan 9, 2019 | Submissions
PLS’ Submissions on Bill C-83 – Amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act
On November 19, 2018, Prisoners’ Legal Services made submissions to the federal government on Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Bill C-83 makes changes to the laws on solitary confinement, but PLS argues they don’t go far enough to protect prisoners’ rights.
Read PLS’ submissions here.
Read the Canadian Bar Association’s submissions here
by J Metcalfe | Nov 19, 2018 | Reports
WCPJS/PLS has released a report on the use of solitary confinement in BC and Canada. Solitary: A Case for Abolition is a detailed prescription for the best practices in abolishing solitary confinement in Canada. This project is funded by the Law Foundation of BC.
