Hi Senator, I encourage you to read a newspaper. But, barring that, why don't we go through some of the ways in which prisons are not safe places to be? Here's a thread:
First off, long-term care homes aren't a federal responsibility. So juxtaposing them to prisons is disingenuous to begin with. (That said, Ottawa obviously can and should step up to do more to help provinces handle it, but that's a separate issue.)
Federal corrections are purely a federal concern. Ottawa is directly responsible for 15,000-some inmates. At the best of times, those prisons as pretty bad vectors for infectious disease. A 2017 study of an H1N1 outbreak found six sick inmates exposed, in total, 144 other inmates
In that case, vaccinations and treatment stopped the spread of the virus. But, nevertheless, "there was high probability that multiple inmates were exposed and may not have reported symptoms or were released/transferred before the onset of symptoms." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Then we still see multiple new cases of Tuberculosis per year inside of these prisons — contact tracing showed that many of those cases were passed-on in the institutions. csc-scc.gc.ca/publications/0…
And, yes, we're being told to stay inside our homes. Canadian prisons are, generally, not homes — they, most generously, more like university dorms. And we've asked students to vacate those dorms.
At home, you can vigorously wash your hands after you come back from doing groceries. You are lucky if you can do that inside these prisons, where there is no hand sanitizer, and spotty access to soap. Sometimes it can hard to get a working tap. vice.com/en_ca/article/…
Prisons are not hermetically sealed. Inmates are coming in every day. Some institutions are isolating them — but not all are doing it for the requisite 14 days.
Corrections officers/staff are also coming in from their communities every day. Many *still* aren't wearing mass.
Corrections officers/staff are also coming in from their communities every day. Many *still* aren't wearing mass.
Prisoners are still being transferred between institutions, including from one with a massive outbreak. I spoke to an inmate today who said they were transferring his entire unit to another prison — and guys are scared to death. vice.com/en_ca/article/…
When you get sick at home, you curl up on the sofa, or you go see a doctor. In prisons right now, you're lucky to see a nurse. Ill inmates are thrown in solitary confinement cells ("cold, dirty and isolated," per the correctional investigator.) canadalandshow.com/podcast/320-co…
In 2018 the Correctional Investigator warned that: “The Service continues to assume the risk of running prisons without 24/7 health care coverage." That warning wasn't heeded. It's only worse now — pregnant women aren't getting to see their doctor, ffs. theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…
And when we see governments fumbling the response to this crisis elsewhere, the media is free to investigate those failures. CSC has tried to scare away inmates and reporters from doing exactly that. nationalpost.com/opinion/justin…
And to just ignore the heavily radicalized component to this is really dangerous. This virus is going to be particularly for Indigenous inmates. aptnnews.ca/2020/01/23/wer…
Finally, there is absolutely nothing "beyond the pale" about this. Correctional Services has pretty wide latitude to offer absence passes, including for medical leave, to inmates. Crowns have broad power to seek alternatives to jailtime. Cabinet has near-limitless pardon power.
The provinces have already started doing this, and we haven't seen crime run rampant. nationalpost.com/news/covid-19-…
I don't think letting inmates out is a magic solution — lots of inmates can't or shouldn't be released.
But starting from the prison that none can, should, or even need to be, released is what's really beyond the pale here. cc: @SenatorHousakos
But starting from the prison that none can, should, or even need to be, released is what's really beyond the pale here. cc: @SenatorHousakos
It's a good question! And there's some truth to it. About 70% of inmates are serving for a violent offence. (Murder I, II, and Schedule I.) But about a fifth are in there on Schedule II (drug offences.)
