Secwépemc inmate ends 4 week hunger strike in protest of unfair treatment, discrimination in prison

Norman LaRue says his family has suffered separation, abuse over three years at the Mission Institution.

Norman LaRue with his wife Jenni and daughter. Photo: supplied.

APTN News: An Indigenous inmate at the Mission Institution in British Columbia has ended a four-week hunger strike, a decision his family says he was forced to make following concerns from the health care manager at the facility and promises of a meeting with management that have not yet been met.

Norman LaRue, a member of Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc and an intergenerational survivor of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS), began his hunger strike on July 15 in protest of what he alleges is consistent discrimination and unfair treatment by Correctional Services Canada, commonly called CSC.

His wife Jenni LaRue said the act was a last resort in seeking better care and support from guards at Mission who, they say, have been harrassing both of them over the past three years.

“The main reason why I decided to take this step and this drastic measure is that CSC has really been on what seems like a campaign against me and my family,” Norman said in a phone interview with APTN News on Aug. 7.

“They separated me from my family. They put a no contact order [between] me and my family for over four months — I wasn’t allowed to call them, write them or anything.”

Norman, who had only been drinking water for the 26 days, ended his strike on Aug. 9 “because the manager of healthcare … said first ‘We are worried this hunger strike will affect your time with your family regarding private family visits.’”

“He felt weak and his clothes are now draping off him, he kept fighting passing out at visits and would go between energetic and slumping in his chair or nearly losing his balance,” Jenni said in an email Thursday.

“He held back on ending the strike until he at least heard he would get the meeting.”

Norman has been serving a life sentence for first degree murder at the Pacific, Mission and Kent institutions in British Columbia since 2013.

At Mission, where he has been since 2021, he alleges that guards have denied visits with his family, conducted cell searches and falsely accused him and his wife of drug use.

Yet since striking, Norman said he has not been treated any better. Instead, he said, he has been threatened with relocation to Kent, the only maximum security federal penitentiary in the CSC’s Pacific region, which includes British Columbia and Yukon.

The last time LaRue was moved to Kent in December of 2021, Jenni said he was a victim of “a violent attack” in which he was stabbed multiple times. She said this renewed threat to move Norman to Kent when he was striking is because CSC knows the family has no other support.

“The reason why Correctional Services Canada has been able to hurt us consecutively now for three years and continuing is because we’re unable to get the support we need from the community,” Jenni said in a phone interview Aug. 7.

“[Indigenous people are] just going to these prisons and they’re being brutalized, murdered and forgotten about. They’re taking their own lives and they’re being killed.”

This is not the first time the LaRues have protested or filed complaints against CSC. In March, Jenni — who is from Simpcw First Nation — met with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) for two mediation sessions and one conciliation on behalf of herself and her husband in an ongoing battle against CSC and alleged mistreatment.

The meetings were the next step after launching a complaint to the commission. Jenni alleges that after her family spoke out about systemic racism at Pacific, she has been routinely searched, has faced false allegations about drug use and being “dangerous,” and denied visits.

Jenni also wrote to the CHRC that the separation is particularly difficult for her as a ‘60s Scoop survivor. She said she now sees her children being separated from their family in the same way she was.

“While at Kent Institution, all communication between my family was stopped, this included phone calls, visits and more,” her complaint at the time stated, in part.

“We were allowed only a five-minute call for Christmas last year, we had to fight for that.”

The LaRues say they’d hoped the meetings with CHRC would improve living conditions for Norman at Mission. Since March, Norman said, he’s been subjected to cell searches that resulted in his television and game consoles being irreparably damaged.

Norman also alleges his hearing aid was stepped on and broken during one of the searches and no word on when they’ll be replaced. He alleges guards accuse him of being an addict by Mission guards because of prescription medication he was taking that had been making him lethargic.

According to the LaRue family, this is why they’re asking for a meeting with the CSC and for it to compensate him fairly or replace his television and gaming consoles for him. He said he also wants the false drug addiction allegations removed from his file and for CSC to stop threatening him with relocation to Kent.

Jenni LaRue said he’ll continue to advocate for himself using the current court process through the Supreme Court and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Kim Beaudin, national vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, or CAP as it’s also known, who wrote a letter in support of Norman to CSC commissioner Anne Kelly and deputy commissioner for Indigenous corrections Kathy Neil on July 24.

“Throughout his incarceration, Norman has continued to show a sincere desire for reform and rehabilitation, and he has been moved into lower security units as he has followed rules and procedures and proven himself to be a safe and model prisoner,” Beaudin, who was also at the meetings with the CHRC in March, said in his letter to CSC.

“Correctional Service Canada administration, guards and leadership need to be held accountable for this pattern of mistreatment, and Norman deserves justice and a fair chance to progress through CSC custody without being a target. Justice can only happen when there are clear rules, accountability, and fair treatment for everyone in the system no matter what their past might be.”

APTN reached out to CSC with a request for comment. In an emailed statement, CSC say they can’t share any information about LaRue citing privacy laws but said in an email, “when a situation may arise where a hunger strike occurs, we have health care professionals that contribute to the health of our offenders through interventions, such as prevention and education.

“CSC policy; specifically, Commissioner’s Directive (CD) 800-1 Hunger Strike: Managing an Inmate’s Healthoutlines CSC’s responsibilities in the event that there is a suspected and/or active hunger strike at one of our facilities.”