TORONTO -- Inmates across Canada are speaking out as COVID-19 infections spread within federal and provincial correctional facilities, with prisoner advocates saying the situation is only getting worse.
Corey Watson, an inmate at the Joyce Institution in Kingston, Ont., who tested positive for the novel coronavirus last month, told CTVNews.ca in a video interview that he and others are 鈥渂asically just waiting for everyone to get it ... You feel powerless.鈥
As of Jan. 3, there were 268 active cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Canada鈥檚 federal prisons, . Of those active cases, 110 were in Saskatchewan Penitentiary near Prince Albert, 62 cases in Stony Mountain Institution near Winnipeg and 66 in Joyceville -- which declared an .
Watson and his fellow inmates at Joyceville said the virus has spread through the prison like a wildfire, and place the blame on Correctional Service Canada, which is responsible for federal institutions, prison administrators and correctional officers. He wants them to do better because he feels inmates鈥 lives are 鈥渋n their hands.鈥
Another Joyceville inmate John Whalen said over the phone, during a CTVNews.ca video interview with his wife, that he feels relentless dread, only leaving his cell to shower.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty terrifying at the end of the day if I鈥檓 going to make it out... and I know if I do catch COVID, they鈥檙e not going to do anything to help me,鈥 he said, adding that inmates like him, who have notices for early medical release, aren鈥檛 being fast-tracked out.
Tara Baker, Whalen鈥檚 wife and the mother of his 17-month-old baby, said the constant uncertainty surrounding his safety is 鈥渘ot something I鈥檇 wish upon anyone.鈥
Inmates in Joyceville, like Whalen and Watson, allege that they have no regular access to masks, hand sanitizer or gloves; infected people live in the same cell ranges as healthy inmates; and that guards inconsistently wear masks. They also allege scheduled releases and parole hearings for some have been pushed back indefinitely. According to inmates, correctional officers even punish those who make their own face coverings from bed sheets and tear down inmates鈥 makeshift physical distancing barriers.
Last month, inmates in Joyceville through the , alleging these and other widespread issues. 鈥淲e鈥檙e consistently being told we鈥檙e safer in prison, yet now it鈥檚 clear that this isn鈥檛 actually the case and there appears to be no plan,鈥 the letter said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a prison with COVID. It can鈥檛 get much worse for us.鈥
Rajean Hoilett, an organizer of the Toronto Prisoners鈥 Rights Project who regularly speaks with inmates and their families, relayed what he was told by an inmate who recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Hoilett alleges a nurse told this inmate: 鈥淵ou made bad choices and that鈥檚 why you ended up in jail -- that鈥檚 why you have COVID.鈥 Hoilett said it likely wasn鈥檛 a one-off incident, saying, 鈥渢his is the kind of medical treatment that folks are being subjected to. It is hard to be able to hear these stories.鈥
CTVNews.ca sent a list of inmates鈥 allegations to Correctional Service Canada (CSC), which is responsible for Joyceville, asking whether inmates鈥 concerns would be investigated. CSC Senior Communications Advisor Isabelle Robitaille responded to the question by saying the 鈥淐SC has not received an official complaint regarding COVID-19 prevention and management measures or improper actions of an employee at Joyceville Institution. However, when an offender is dissatisfied with an action or a decision by a staff member, CSC's offender grievance or complaint procedure is available.鈥
The spokesperson added that 鈥淐SC is committed to ensuring that offenders' concerns are heard and that their complaints or grievances are resolved in a fair and timely manner. Offenders may also submit complaints to the Office of the Correctional Investigator.鈥
Robitaille also said that 鈥淛oyceville Institution has dedicated staff cleaners on site, and they continue to hire more as we move forward in the pandemic. This is all done in order to ensure that showers and telephones are disinfected after each use. We also have dedicated health services on site with the equipment needed to monitor and treat inmates.鈥
In a separate email, CSC spokesperson Kerry Gatien said the federal agency has 鈥渋mplemented extensive measures鈥 which include 鈥渋ncreased physical distancing within the sites, masking, enhanced cleaning and disinfecting at sites.鈥
鈥淲e are working in close collaboration with public health partners to adapt our approaches and take additional measures, as needed,鈥 Gatien added.
When it came to inmates saying not enough of them are being fast-tracked out, Gatien said that 鈥淐SC and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) continue to process eligible inmates for release in accordance with the law. A number of considerations go into release decision-making with public safety being the paramount consideration. Since the beginning of March 2020, the federal custody population has declined by 1,366 inmates. This reduction is the result of fewer admissions from the provinces and territories coupled with continued releases into the community.鈥
鈥淭he safety and security of staff, offenders and the public is our top priority throughout this public health pandemic,鈥 the spokesperson said. 鈥淭his is an evolving situation that we continue to monitor closely.鈥
ALLEGATIONS ECHOED AT TORONTO SOUTH
Hoilett and other prisoners鈥 rights advocates say complaints from Joyceville inmates were similar to ones in the provincially-run Toronto South Detention Centre, the site of a COVID-19 outbreak that was also reported last month. There are 16 reported positive COVID-19 cases there, , according to figures from the .
Inmates and advocacy groups such as The Toronto Prisoners鈥 Rights Project and , a project focused on crime prevention and rehabilitation, allege guards and administrators in Toronto South aren鈥檛 following .
鈥淥n every different [cell] range, inmates have the same complaints. The disregard for life, the inhuman treatment, to me, is outrageous,鈥 Zya Brown, Think 2wice鈥檚 founder and director, told CTVNews.ca in a video interview. 鈥淲e have the power. We鈥檙e the taxpayers. We need to hold them accountable.鈥
Her group, which speaks directly with inmates in Toronto South and their families, alleges that:
- inmates aren鈥檛 being separated from those infected with the virus and aren鈥檛 being given masks or COVID-19 tests en masse;
- excessive reliance on lockdowns, a procedure similar to solitary confinement in which inmates can鈥檛 leave their cells for most of the day,
- a lack of access to regular showers, with some inmates only bathing once every two weeks; and,
- officers not consistently wearing masks, nor swapping out their personal protective equipment in between individual cell checks.
Brown said the COVID-19 outbreak there and excessive lockdowns prompted last month until conditions change. This is at during the pandemic that the Toronto South inmates have held. She said their situation is 鈥減ersonal for me,鈥 as she currently has a loved one in Toronto South.
Ontario鈥檚 Ministry of the Solicitor General, which is responsible for Toronto South, refuted inmates鈥 allegations. Its full response is at the bottom of this article.
In an email, spokesperson Brent Ross said 鈥減rotecting the health and safety of correctional services staff and those in provincial custody is the ministry鈥檚 top priority.鈥
He added that in provincial institutions, are being followed, including, 鈥渕asks [being] provided to inmates, if required鈥 and that they鈥檙e 鈥渉ousing all newly admitted inmates in a separate area from the general population for 14 days.鈥
鈥淰oluntary testing of staff, as well as inmates within the same units, are underway,鈥 he said, noting that 16,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted at provincial correctional facilities in total.
But those with family members in Toronto South and Joyceville are telling a different story, and say these official statements aren鈥檛 enough.
鈥淚 thought because it was a government-run facility, they鈥檇 follow a strict protocol,鈥 Kerri Lockrey, who is friends with Joyceville inmate Watson, told CTVNews.ca in a video interview. She called it 鈥渄isgusting鈥 and 鈥渞idiculous鈥 that the CSC and Joyceville staff failed to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak. 鈥淧eople make mistakes but that doesn鈥檛 mean their life is any less valuable.鈥
Whalen鈥檚 wife said that before he was incarcerated last January, he had spent 28 months recovering from a drug dependency, while on bail for a parole violation for testing positive for narcotics in December 2017.
During that time, the employees at his small roofing business had looked to him as an example of how to turn their own lives around. But in January 2020, he hit a roadblock when the court sentenced him for that 2017 parole violation and he was taken into custody just before the pandemic hit, Tara Baker said.
Now, Whalen worries that because of COVID-19, it might not be up to him at all if he鈥檒l get to return to his life and resume his progress.
鈥淚t all could be for nothing because I might be never getting out because I could be leaving in a body bag.鈥
ADVOCATES: PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS WERE MISSED
But none of this had to happen, advocates say. Throughout the pandemic, Correctional Service Canada has faced strong criticism for being when it comes to enforcing COVID-19 precautions consistently.
Since the pandemic started, 鈥渢hings have gotten worse鈥 and are on track to continue, Justin Piché, a criminology professor at the University of Ottawa, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
鈥淒uring the start of the pandemic, so mid-March to mid-July, there were 600 prisoners that had tested positive for COVID-19 across Canada and 229 staff members. In the past two months, we have seen well over a 1,000 reported cases,鈥 said Piché, an organizer for who's been throughout the pandemic.
Toronto Prisoners鈥 Rights Project organizer Hoilett called the outbreaks in federal and provincial institutions 鈥渋nevitable.鈥 He said 鈥渁 lot of us were really hoping that we鈥檇 be proven wrong.鈥
Hoilett said Toronto South and other remand institutions -- which house people awaiting trial, but can鈥檛 secure bail 鈥 missed a huge opportunity by not easing up enough on bail requirements.
Six out of 10 inmates in all provincial and territorial correctional institutions are in this category, according to , with 35 per cent of that group鈥檚 criminal charges never resulting in a guilty verdict, the found.
And there was even some precedent for releasing these and other inmates.
During the first pandemic wave, provincial and territorial institutions quietly slashed the number of prisoners by 25 per cent, or about 6,000 fewer inmates, according to Statistics Canada. These inmates were either awaiting trial or serving sentences of two years or less. In Ontario alone, there was around a 30-per-cent decrease, or around 2,400 inmates.
鈥淲e saw in a matter of weeks, things happened that they [provincial officials] spent years saying was not possible,鈥 Piché said. 鈥淭he fact that we haven鈥檛 had a rash of law-breaking associated with de-population [of prisons] just shows you how ridiculous the previous situation of how we used remands was鈥 and ignored people鈥檚 right to be presumed innocent.鈥
Hoilett agreed, saying that 鈥渟trategy is what kept people alive鈥 because it allowed inmates who remained incarcerated to more easily physically distance.
Piché explained this depopulation of prisons was mostly due to prosecutors being encouraged to enter into consent-bail agreements with defendants whenever possible; having justices and justices of the peace more willing to offer bail, and having people serving weekend intermittent sentences at home, instead of going into the prisons.
鈥淚t鈥檚 confusing that that was a strategy that was abandoned through the pandemic,鈥 Hoilett said. Piché added that since the spring, 鈥淸cases] have accelerated behind prison walls, just as they have in the community. And governments seem to be doing less this time around, unbelievably.鈥
Piché said Canada鈥檚 prisons also missed another opportunity to de-populate by not seriously considering releasing non-violent inmates over 50 years old.
The age group makes up a and about , according to the criminal justice reform non-profit John Howard Society and Statistics Canada, respectively. Piché said they should be targeted because their age group is .
But when it came to general depopulation efforts across federal institutions, like Joyceville, Piché said: 鈥淭he federal government never got on board to begin with in a serious way.鈥
While provincial jails slashed their populations by a quarter between February and April, Correctional Services Canada only reduced its prison population by one per cent during that same period, . And unlike other jurisdictions -- which extended temporary absences or multi-day passes -- Piché said federal bodies banned those altogether.
And he said those actions need to be undone immediately.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people languishing in federal penitentiaries right now that can be safely released,鈥 Piché said, adding that money should also be moved to temporary and permanent housing for both former inmates and needy civilians.
