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| John L. Hill |
Commissioner Kelly was quick to acknowledge the “good news” in the OCI report. She reported, “CSC’s mandate is to contribute to public safety by assisting and supporting offenders in their rehabilitation and eventual return to our communities as law-abiding citizens. A key part of this is providing them with education, programming, interventions and services that contribute to this end goal.”
She also commented that CSC is shooting down drones that deliver drugs and weapons to inmates at federal penitentiaries, with 98 per cent of drones being detected. Detector dogs ensure incarcerated people remain without cellphones and electronic storage devices. Most significantly, during the past decade, there has been a steady and substantial improvement in the percentage of people convicted of federal offences not returning to federal custody within five years of sentence expiration.
However, there is a danger in issuing a statement that reflects only on the correctional service’s positive accomplishments and does not mention the severe criticisms noted in the OCI’s annual report.
The correctional investigator states that there are approximately 3,600 persons serving indeterminate sentences in Canada. Lifers now represent just over one-quarter of the total federal in-custody population where they languish in medium-security facilities long after completing their required correctional programs and their parole eligibility dates have expired. Lifers are expected to comply with unreasonable behavioural standards, with non-compliance often being interpreted as indicative of higher risk. The report spoke of serious deficiencies and biases in security reclassification scales, reviews and criteria that significantly disadvantage inmates serving life terms, including restrictions on temporary absences and unreasonable delays in conducting correctional plan updates or transfers to minimum security. Shortcomings in policy and practice result in life-sentenced individuals being kept at higher security levels and for more extended periods than necessary.
Zinger’s report also documents a study into the death of Stéphane Bissonnette, a 39-year-old man who died in an observation cell while on suicide watch at the Regional Treatment Centre (RTC) at Millhaven. Bissonnette’s death, while supposedly under observation, is not unique. There have been similar case histories in previous public reports. As the Correctional Investigator noted in his report: “Stéphane was a person with complex behaviours and needs. He had a high propensity to direct violence inward and, on occasion, toward others. His history of federal incarceration — prolonged placements in administrative segregation, numerous placements in Enhanced Observation (suicide watch), frequent transfers in and out of psychiatric facilities, multiple placements in restrictive confinement and the frequent use of mechanical Pinel restraints to manage self-injury or suicidal ideation — indicate that CSC struggled to safely and humanely manage this troubled individual.”
Almost half of the 28 recommendations made in this year’s annual report relate to treating lifers and conditions in maximum-security institutions. While the commissioner of corrections must show the general public that operations in the country’s prisons result in public safety, there is an equal obligation to ensure that incarcerated people are safe and that the focus is on rehabilitation, not punishment.
Indeed, the correctional investigator was critical that not enough attention was paid to correcting the shortcomings found in previous investigations. “The Service had sufficient time and opportunity to prepare a thoughtful and meaningful response,” Zinger said. “Far too many of my recommendations are effectively dismissed or glossed over with CSC simply stating that it will conduct its own review of the matter, without necessarily ever agreeing, disagreeing, or even acknowledging the concerns advanced in my report.” He added, “Public accountability and transparency require that, if CSC does not agree with or does not accept my findings and recommendations, it should state so directly and publicly. CSC conducting its own review of these matters is redundant, misplaced, and wasteful of public resources.”
Since many of the OCI report recommendations dealt with lifers, one would expect that there would be detailed measures to address the deficiencies found. Yet this is how one of the CSC responses was worded: “The issues raised by the OCI will be taken into consideration by the working group responsible for developing the new Lifer Strategy. As part of this work, CSC will engage its partners to get the benefit of their knowledge and experiences. Timeline Spring 2026.”
The correctional investigator has raised very serious problems. The commissioner’s press release dealt with CSC’s accomplishments, but a promise to adequately address the serious faults in our prisons is all but ignored.
John L. Hill practised and taught prison law until his retirement. He holds a J.D. from Queen’s and an LL.M. in constitutional law from Osgoode Hall. He is also the author of Pine Box Parole: Terry Fitzsimmons and the Quest to End Solitary Confinement (Durvile & UpRoute Books) and The Rest of the [True Crime] Story (AOS Publishing.). Contact him at johnlornehill@hotmail.com.
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