Canada’s solitary-confinement laws are unconstitutional, Ontario judge rules
Status of Women – Study on Indigenous Women Prisoners
Status of Women – Study on Indigenous Women Prisoners
Prisoners’ Legal Services executive director, Jennifer Metcalfe, appeared today before the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women as part of their current study on Indigenous women prisoners. Click here to read her speaking notes and here to read our brief.
Ms. Metcalfe called on government to engage with First Nations and Indigenous organizations for self-determination in the administration of correctional services, and to ensure that they are well resourced to provide full wrap-around support for women who have experienced multi-generational trauma.
Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC
Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480
Email: info@pls-bc.ca
We are grateful for the
funding provided by
How to Show Your Support
Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.
Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society
Or by PayPal:
Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.
Thanks for your support!
Inside/Out: A Prison Memoir at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Inside/Out: A Prison Memoir at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Join us at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival for Inside/Out, a memoir about life in the Canadian prison system.
Inside/Out follows Patrick Keating’s journey as a child growing up in Montreal, getting into drugs and crime, entering the juvenile detention system at the age of 16, and serving a total of three sentences, one for bank robbery. Patrick’s honest and engaging delivery of his funny, sad, and stirring true story helps dismantle our ideas of what a ‘criminal’ looks like – and helps us better understand how language, race, and class play a very real part in our lives as Canadians. It’s about a man’s search for community: the community of the street, the community of prison, and of the theatre.
There will be post-show talkbacks after each performance hosted by Pivot Legal Society with Prisoners’ Legal Services.
January 17–21, 2018
80 minutes, no intermission
7:00PM (January 17–20)
2:00PM (January 21)
There will be a captioned performance on Sunday, January 21st at 2:00 pm for Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing.
Regular tickets are $39 (incl. taxes) | Group tickets (10 or more) are only $28.20! BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE For questions or accessibility concerns, please contact Accessible PuSh Coordinator Anika Vervecken: access@pushfestival.ca | 604.605.8284 ext. 204
Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC
Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480
Email: info@pls-bc.ca
We are grateful for the
funding provided by
How to Show Your Support
Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.
Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society
Or by PayPal:
Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.
Thanks for your support!
Prison justice group hopes to tackle ‘gaps’ in provincial, federal prisons
CSC Policy: Consideration of Aboriginal Social History
CSC Policy: Consideration of Indigenous Social History
Correctional Service Canada is currently updating policy regarding the consideration of Indigenous Social History in the administration of Indigenous prisoners’ sentences. PLS supports these initiatives and provided feedback on making this policy even stronger. You can read our comments here.
Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC
Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480
Email: info@pls-bc.ca
We are grateful for the
funding provided by
How to Show Your Support
Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.
Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society
Or by PayPal:
Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.
Thanks for your support!
Infamous ‘Balcony Rapist’ living in Surrey; residents upset neighbourhood wasn’t notified
Prisoners’ Legal Services recommends reforms to British Columbia correctional laws.
Prisoners’ Legal Services recommends reforms to British Columbia correctional laws.
Today, August 30, 2017, Prisoners’ Legal Services wrote to Premier John Horgan, Attorney General David Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth with a list of recommendations for legislative reforms that would improve the lives of BC provincial prisoners. You can read our list of recommendations here.
We hope the new BC government will take this opportunity to reform prison law to be in compliance with the United Nations’ Mandela Rules and abolish the use of solitary confinement in BC which is considered to be torture or cruel treatment if it is used for more than 15 days or on prisoners with mental disabilities. We also call for more resources to support prisoners with mental health needs.
Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC
Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480
Email: info@pls-bc.ca
We are grateful for the
funding provided by
How to Show Your Support
Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.
Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society
Or by PayPal:
Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.
Thanks for your support!
Correctional Service Canada is failing to treat prisoners with drug addictions. Read our letter.
Correctional Service Canada is failing to treat prisoners with drug addictions. Read our letter.
On July 17, 2017, Prisoners’ Legal Services wrote to Correctional Service Canada on behalf of 33 prisoners struggling with addiction who are unable to get appropriate medical treatment. The letter raises urgent concerns about woefully inadequate resources and the abrupt and inhumane discontinuation of medication for patients who do receive Opioid Substitution Therapy.
As the letter explains, many clients say they are looking for help to stop using drugs and are afraid of overdosing, but that they are unable to get the help they need. Some have been waiting months—and some even years—for treatment. Others have been cut off their life-saving medication after allegations of diversion with no meaningful opportunity to defend themselves or exploration of alternatives to termination.
The letter urges Correctional Service Canada to make immediate changes to its Opioid Substitution Therapy program to ensure everyone who needs this life-saving treatment has access to it. Read the letter here
Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC
Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480
Email: info@pls-bc.ca
We are grateful for the
funding provided by
How to Show Your Support
Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.
Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society
Or by PayPal:
Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.
Thanks for your support!