News Release: Report calls for significant shift of funding from Correctional Service Canada to Indigenous governments and organizations

by | Apr 19, 2023 | News, News Releases, Reports

Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services released Decarceration through Self-determination: Ending the mass incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada. The report calls on Canada to shift $1 billion each year from the Correctional Service Canada (CSC) to Indigenous governments and organizations to provide alternatives to prison, and independent services for Indigenous people in prison and on community release.

$1 billion represents the approximate amount of money CSC spends incarcerating Indigenous people each year, who represent 32% of people in federal prison. CSC’s annual budget is roughly $3 billion.

Decarceration through Self-Determination arrives at its recommendations through centring the voices of Indigenous people in prison, who are disproportionately warehoused in high levels of security, subjected to solitary confinement and uses of force, and prevented from accessing Indigenous-run healing lodges due to CSC’s racist security classification policies and risk assessments. The report also shines a light on the abuse of Indigenous people in prison, whose experiences are comparable to the treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools.

Among the report’s 18 recommendations, Prisoners’ Legal Services calls on Canada to end its delegation of powers to CSC to negotiate and set parameters on Indigenous-run alternatives to prison under s 81 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Instead, it calls on Canada to fund Indigenous governments and organizations who wish to provide alternatives to prison, based on respect for the right to self-determination. The report highlights some of the inspiring work already being done by Indigenous governments and organizations who provide support to Indigenous people involved in the criminal legal system.

“The mass incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada violates domestic law, and international law against torture and colonial genocide. If Canada wants to honour Truth and Reconciliation, it must put an end to this practice, and implement real change by shifting funding priorities and respecting Indigenous law,” said Jennifer Metcalfe, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services, who is a white settler living and working on the unceded land of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Qayqayt Nations.

“Indigenous Peoples have always had systems of government, law and dispute resolution that, before colonization, worked to maintain a unified, respectful and just society. Indigenous people affected by prisons, Elders, and Indigenous governments and organizations doing this important justice and reintegration work know what is effective to repair harm in their communities,” said Karly Morgan, legal advocate at Prisoners’ Legal Services, who is a member of the Haida Nation.

The full report is available here: Decarceration through Self-determination. 

Media contact:
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director
604-636-0470
jmetcalfe@pls-bc.ca

News Release: Indigenous Woman Files Human Rights Complaint About Discrimination Against Transgender People in Prison

by | Apr 12, 2023 | News, News Releases

Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Burnaby, British Columbia) – Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS) filed a human rights complaint on behalf of Fallon Aubee, a transgender Indigenous woman, against Correctional Service Canada (CSC).

Ms. Aubee is a residential school survivor who is currently incarcerated at Fraser Valley Institution for Women. She previously spent sixteen years in institutions designated for men, where she experienced physical violence, harassment, and sexual violence due to her gender identity.

Finally being able to live with other women has been very important for Ms. Aubee. However, CSC still refuses to recognize her gender identity in its electronic systems because she has not had gender-affirming genital surgery. The Offender Management System (OMS) and her electronic medical records continue to categorize her sex as “male.”

Ms. Aubee is challenging a CSC policy called Commissioner’s Directive 100 – Gender Diverse Offenders which states that an individual’s “sex” will be solely determined “by their current genitalia.”  The policy further states that a person’s “sex code in OMS will not change unless the offender undergoes gender-affirming surgery involving a change to their genitalia.” The OMS database is available to a large portion of CSC’s approximately 18,000 staff members. Many other agencies also have access to OMS.

While Ms. Aubee has been cleared for gender-affirming surgery, she has a heart condition that could impact her ability to proceed with it, especially given the long wait-times for surgery.  She has changed the gender marker on her birth certificate and undergone a legal name change, but continues to be classified as “male” by CSC.

Ms. Aubee states: “Seeing CSC continue to classify me as ‘male’ makes me feel like they are erasing my identity as a woman. Those four letters are a constant reminder that CSC does not view me as an equal to other women. Classifying me as ‘male’ also violates my privacy and dignity, since it reveals intimate details about my body in a very public way. I am challenging this policy not just for myself but for all transgender people in CSC custody.”

Nicole Kief, legal advocate for Ms. Aubee, states: “CSC’s policy relies on the incorrect idea that trans women who have not had gender-affirming surgery are not ‘real’ women. The view that trans people are always – or should be – progressing toward surgery is based on outdated theories of gender that pathologized and stigmatized transgender people. The policy undermines the dignity of trans people and puts their safety at risk by ‘outing’ them as trans.”

Emilie Coyle, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, states: “The human rights of trans people were enshrined in our laws because there was a recognition that they must be protected. Ms. Aubee’s complaint helps us to understand how we can improve our practices to protect the rights of trans people who are incarcerated. Wherever we can evolve to better respect the dignity and humanity of some, the safer the world becomes for everyone. Ms. Aubee’s fight for dignity is a fight for the dignity of everyone.”

A copy of Ms. Aubee’s complaint can be found here.

Media Contacts:

Jessica Magonet
Staff Lawyer at Prisoners’ Legal Services
jmagonet@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470

Nicole Kief
Legal Advocate at Prisoners’ Legal Services
nkief@pls-bc.ca
604-636-0470

Emilie Coyle
Executive Director at the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)
ecoyle@caefs.ca
613-316-6785