NationTalk: Ottawa – The 2023-24 Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) was tabled in Parliament on October 29, 2024. The Office’s latest Annual Report breaks new ground in two national-level investigations examining conditions of confinement in male stand-alone maximum-security penitentiaries and on the experience of persons serving a life (or indeterminate) sentence in Canada, a sentence that has no end date.

“My findings in these two areas cut to the very core of correctional intent and purpose,” stated the Correctional Investigator, Dr. Ivan Zinger. “These two investigations raise tough public policy questions that go to the costs and consequences of sentences that are, by any measure, exceedingly long (as with Lifers), costly and excessively harsh (as with maximum-security prisoners). To different degrees, life-sentenced and maximum-security prisoners experience an unacceptable amount of wasted or idled time in conditions of confinement that serve no rehabilitative or reintegrative purpose,” said the Correctional Investigator.

In Hope Behind Bars: Managing Life Sentences in Federal Custody, the Office reports 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. The investigation noted that these individuals often find themselves languishing in medium-security facilities long after completing their required correctional programs and their parole eligibility dates have expired. The report found that those serving a life sentence are expected to comply with unreasonable behavioural standards, with non-compliance often being interpreted as indicative of higher risk. The investigation also revealed serious deficiencies and biases in security reclassification scales, reviews and criteria that significantly disadvantage Lifers, including restrictions on temporary absences and unreasonable delays in conducting Correctional Plan updates, or transfers to minimum-security. The effect of these shortcomings in policy and practice is that life-sentenced individuals are often kept at higher security levels and for longer periods than necessary.

With respect to the investigation of stand-alone male maximum-security prisons, the report notes that use of force incidents in these facilities now account for just under half of all uses of force nationwide, even though they house just 10% of the overall incarcerated population in Canada. The emphasis on security, control and confinement limits dynamic security and restricts participation in meaningful work, recreation, and programming opportunities. The report notes that the “mini” yards relegated for unit-based fresh air exercise are inherently depriving and dehumanizing spaces. The Correctional Investigator pointed out that long and harsh sentences have been found to result in an increase in offending upon release. “Excessive cellular confinement in repressive conditions all too predictably leads to tension and violence,” stated Dr. Zinger.

“The conclusion that I draw from these two quite different investigations is that imprisonment without purpose or end is cruel, arbitrary, and unlawful. In both investigations I found that the legislated goals of imprisonment in Canada were not being adequately met. We must remember that the nature and gravity of the offence are considered and applied at sentencing. The law directs that our correctional system must offer more than incapacitation or punishment for these two classes of prisoners,” said Dr. Zinger.

Aside from the two national-level investigations, Dr. Zinger’s report also contains a case study into the death of Mr. Stéphane Bissonnette, a 39-year-old man who died in an observation cell while on suicide watch at the Regional Treatment Centre (RTC) Millhaven. In a number of disturbing respects, Mr. Bissonnette’s death in the care and custody of CSC fits within a pattern of tragic incidents sharing similar case histories that the Office has documented 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.”

Though Stéphane’s case is unique in some respects, his death follows an all too familiar and tragic pattern of failing to properly ensure a live breathing body during security rounds and illustrates the continuing mismanagement of serious mental illness in Canada’s prison system. The case study raises further and significant concern about the operation and governance of psychiatric hospitals in the federal correctional system, particularly the scope and degree of clinical practice in providing safe, effective, and unfettered patient care within co-located penitentiary settings. Dr. Zinger’s report calls on CSC to conduct an independent patient safety review at RTC Millhaven, ensure RTC staff are appropriately recruited, trained and competent to perform their duties in a secure psychiatric environment and for federal corrections to expand alternatives to incarceration for individuals who are seriously mentally ill.

This year’s Annual Report also includes a number of significant national policy and operational updates including: risk assessment and classification of Indigenous Peoples since the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Ewert v. Canada (2018); a review of CSC’s internal complaints and grievances system; an examination of Quality of Care Reviews involving natural cause deaths in federal custody; population pressures in women’s institutions, and; a review of the impact of the Engagement and Intervention Model (EIM) on use of force incidents.

The Office’s 2023-24 Annual Report contains 28 recommendations, 13 of which are issued in the Lifers and maximum-security investigations. All recommendations in this year’s report are directed to CSC. Significant recommendations from the National Updates section of the report call on CSC to:

1. Develop, from the ground up, new assessment and classification tools that are Indigenous-led and culturally responsive to informed indicators of risk and need (i.e., Indigenous social history factors).
2. Develop a National Population Management Strategy for Women.
3. Implement Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practices at all maximum-security and multi-level penitentiaries, including the five Regional Women and Treatment Centre facilities.
4. Conduct an independent audit of the Quality of Care Review process for natural cause deaths in custody.
5. Report on its efforts to reduce use of force incidents, increase capacity to respond to incidents involving mental health and physical distress, and ensure that violations of the law and/or policies do not go unchecked.

The Correctional Investigator expressed his dissatisfaction with the overall lack of responsiveness to his findings and recommendations, especially to the two national-level investigations. “The Service had sufficient time and opportunity to prepare a thoughtful and meaningful response,” said the Correctional Investigator. “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.” Dr. Zinger 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.”

As the ombudsman for federally sentenced offenders, the Office of the Correctional Investigator serves Canadians and contributes to safe, lawful, and humane corrections through independent oversight of the Correctional Service of Canada by providing accessible, impartial, and timely investigation of individual and systemic concerns. The 2023-24 Annual Report, along with a comprehensive executive summary, are available at www.oci-bec.gc.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Monette Maillet
Executive Director
Monette.Maillet@oci-bec.gc.ca
613-791-0170