In November 2020, “Solitary by another name: The ongoing use of isolation in Canada’s federal prisons” was published by the West Coast Prison Justice Society / Prisoners’ Legal Services. The report identifies ways that the Correctional Service Canada (CSC) continues to routinely keep prisoners in solitary confinement, or solitary-like conditions of isolation, sometimes for months on end, despite Canada’s claims to have eliminated the use of segregation. It recommends legislative limits on the use of isolation, care in community-based hospitals for prisoners with serious mental illnesses and increased funding for Indigenous-run healing lodges, and calls for an external review of staff culture at all levels.
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Regarding restrictive movement routines
Recommendation 4: During waking hours, the norm should be free movement and the opportunity for meaningful activities and meaningful human interaction. This could include a variety of organized recreational, educational, cultural, spiritual and occupational activities facilitated by qualified staff, volunteers, community service providers and peers, and should include unstructured time indoors and out of doors.-
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Regarding lockdowns
Recommendation 6: We recommend that legislation require any lockdowns to be approved by independent external decision makers if they are to be used for more than 24 hours, or if more than five lockdowns are imposed at a given institution within a year. A lockdown that is approved shall be independently reviewed every 24 hours. CSC must demonstrate that the lockdown is necessary according to legislative criteria, represents the least restrictive measure necessary and that the duration is for the shortest amount of time possible. Independent external decision makers must have the authority to make orders to end a lockdown and orders respecting conditions of confinement.-
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Regarding lockdowns
Recommendation 7: We recommend that legislation and policy require that for the duration of a lockdown, all prisoners be provided with a minimum of four hours out of their cell daily, including daily access to more than two hours of meaningful human contact, telephones, showers, and at least one hour of outdoor exercise (or indoor exercise in poor weather).-
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Regarding lockdowns
Recommendation 8: We recommend legislation requiring prisoners to be provided with clear and timely information on the reasons for the lockdown, the daily routine and the expected duration.-
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Regarding lockdowns
Recommendation 9: We recommend that health care and Indigenous healing services be provided to prisoners independently of CSC, and that these professionals provide activities and counselling to prisoners during a lockdown, particularly for prisoners with pre-existing mental health disabilities.-
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- Alternative solutions ,
- Corrections ,
- Culture and language ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Emergency response ,
- Health ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Indigenous issues in policing and justice ,
- Mental health and detention ,
- Policing and the criminal justice system ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public services
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Regarding isolation for medical or mental health reasons
Recommendation 12: We recommend that individuals placed in isolation for medical or mental health reasons must be offered at least four hours of meaningful human contact per day. If a prisoner’s mental health is poor or deteriorating, they should be provided additional opportunities for meaningful human contact. Prisoners should be offered daily time out of their cell including outdoors if medically safe. They should have regular and no-cost access to telephone and video visitation with family, community supports and legal representatives. Within their cells, they should have access to televisions and increased access to canteen and free snacks.-
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Regarding isolation for medical or mental health reasons
Recommendation 13: We recommend prisoners with serious mental illnesses be transferred to community-based psychiatric hospitals under s 29 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, where they can receive appropriate mental health treatment in a therapeutic environment.-
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Regarding isolation for medical or mental health reasons
Recommendation 14: We recommend that specialized Therapeutic Units address the unique needs of prisoners with mental health disabilities, and that they be adequately funded and sufficiently staffed with independent professionals including nurses, social workers, Elders, counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists as appropriate to provide robust and culturally appropriate treatment and high levels of meaningful human contact.-
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Regarding structured intervention units
Recommendation 18: We recommend that meaningful human contact be defined in policy, and that it be acknowledged that it must be meaningful to the individual.-
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Regarding structured intervention units
Recommendation 21: To facilitate meaningful access to counsel, we recommend legislation or policy providing:- That outside agencies should be allowed to provide in-person legal aid clinics in SIUs on a regular basis.
- That CSC staff must deliver and facilitate all legal callback requests within 24 hours.
- That CSC must share relevant documentation directly with counsel at least three days in advance of all SIU reviews, without requiring a signed consent form.
- That outgoing faxes to counsel be provided to all prisoners free of charge and within one working day.
- That prisoners be provided sufficient time to meet with counsel in person, in a confidential room.
- That all necessary steps be taken to facilitate the attendance of counsel at hearings, including advising counsel of the time and date of the hearing as soon as it is scheduled and confirming requests by counsel to attend.
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