Canada: "a drop in the ocean"

Samira Figuigui. The Canadian prison system consists of two types of institutions. Firstly, there are provincial or territorial prisons, which are for remand prisoners and sentences of less than two years, and the others are the federal prisons for sentences of two years or more.

The architecture, operation, and hygiene of provincial institutions are similar to those of French jails. These facilities are overcrowded. Several people are sometimes held in the same cell.

Quebec allows for the possibility of being incarcerated on a discontinuous basis, particularly on weekends, depending on the person’s profile and the reason for their conviction. Nevertheless, it can lead to occasional overpopulation towards the end of the week. It is also not rare for people to be jailed in the gym with mattresses on the floor and precarious detention conditions. Furthermore, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and lack of dignity can cause tension between prisoners as well as staff.

Both types of institutions divide the prisoners into three security levels: minimum, medium, maximum. In Quebec, for example, the prisoner arriving to the prison first passes a regional reception centre which is in the Sainte-Annes-des-Plaines prison complex.

Over three months, an assessment of the person is carried out. The assessment concerns any offences committed, as well as whether the person has any previous convictions, any mental health problems, physical health problems, various disorders, the resulting degree of threat posed by said disorders, and the person’s capacity to adapt to the prison environment. This evaluation determines the type of institution that the person will be transferred to.

For homicide, people are generally incarcerated in a maximum-security prison. Regardless of the nature of the murder, whether it was intentional or not, there is always at least one period of detention at a maximum level. After two years, the prisoner is re-evaluated, at which point they could potentially go down to medium and so on.

Conversely, the authorities avoid moving prisoners to higher security levels. At the medium level, there is a considerable amount of freedom, such as the possibility of going to work. At the maximum level, the prisoner rarely leaves their cell. For someone imprisoned at the medium level, the psychological shock of being moved to the maximum level would be more severe than their initial imprisonment.

SF. There is a general lack of communication and information sharing among correctional services. It is also difficult to understand the causes of the recent increase in the number of cases. We know it takes a certain amount of time for the virus to enter prison. There is a delay of three to four weeks compared to the general population. But the correctional services’ secrecy does not explain this rapid increase. That being said, we know that the surge in cases is not related to the ongoing provision of services, as they have been interrupted since this autumn. For example, visits have been suspended.

One possible cause of the concentration of Covid-19 cases in medium security prisons may simply be the distribution of the prison population and its density. The maximum institutions are much more restricted and house fewer prisoners than minimum and mediums facilities.

The measures within the prisons are broadly similar to those in other countries, and mainly consist of wearing a mask. However, masks are not mandatory in cells, as they are considered to be living spaces, comparable to houses for the general population. Nevertheless, prisoners are strongly recommended to wear masks in their cells. Otherwise, masks are mandatory when travelling from one section to another, such as when transferring or leaving the institution.

Transfers were suspended, or at least greatly limited, during the first wave (spring 2020). This has not been the case for the second wave. A 14-day quarantine scheme has been implemented for every transfer or new incarceration. Temporary day releases, especially for working prisoners, have continued. Prisoners who have this right are placed in a specific section and are not supposed to be in contact with others. In provincial facilities, a series of measures had been announced to ensure the “well being“ of prisoners. These measures mainly consist of the provision of a kit with small entertainment equipment such as a radio, or something to pass the time.

People who contact the John Howard Society, both prisoners or family members, always share the same fear: contracting the virus. Several riots took place in provincial institutions last spring. There were water cuts in different areas of the Bordeaux prison in Montreal. Numerous prisoners have reported that prisons officers were not wearing masks, and they also complained that some officers showed little regard for hygiene measures. The same applies to fellow prisoners. There is a real sense of anxiety inside the facilities.

The indirect victims of this situation are the families. They cannot visit people in detention - mothers, fathers, and children. Visits, which had resumed for a few weeks during the summer, were suspended again in the autumn. Visits are now only possible via video calls. This obviously poses problems due to the need for internet access, and this mainly affects certain groups of people.

SF. By mid-February, 600 doses of the vaccine had been administered to prisoners across Canada. It’s a drop in the ocean. However, the prescription of the first doses to prisoners caused an uproar.

Canadian society, eager for the vaccine, was concerned that we vaccinated the criminals first and left the most “respectable” citizens to die.

Vaccinations took place within the prisons themselves. For the time being, only federal facilities have been targeted and it is still unclear whether the same will be done for provincial institutions.

The vaccine was administered to prisoners over the age of 70 and to those who were the most medically vulnerable. The vaccination campaign is managed by the Public Service Agency, which also takes care of the general population. Prisoners are therefore subject to the same accessibility criteria.

Prisoners have to be able to give their consent to treatment, just like members of the general population do. That is, if they do not wish to be vaccinated, then they are not obligated. Correctional services, both provincial or federal, are responsible for the prisoners’ health. Therefore, they are in charge of the health care and services of prisoners, regardless of their status. Since prisons are such confined and notoriously unsanitary places, vaccinating the prisoners was an urgent matter. At the very least, vaccinating the oldest and most vulnerable among them was a top priority.