Mission Statement

1. Canadian Prison Law Conference Dalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova ScotiaSeptember 22, 2018Dr. Ivan ZingerCorrectional Investigator of Canada

2. Mission Statement “As the ombudsman for federally sentenced offenders, theOffice 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.”

3. 2017-18 Annual Statistics • By the Numbers – 2017/18 • $4.7 M budget • 36 FTEs • 352 days spent in penitentiaries • 5,846 offender complaints • 1828 interviews with offenders • 1,487 use of force reviews • 137 deaths in custody and serious bodily injury reviews • 24,578 toll-free phone contacts • 81,927 hours on toll-free line • 25 million website hits

4. 2017/18 Complaints 17%of total in-custody population (14,159) contacted the OCI • 15% of all Indigenous inmates (558 of 3,798). • 36% of all FSW (247 of 692). • 33% of all Indigenous FSW (83 of 253). • 19% of all Black inmates (225 of 1,174).

5. Top Complaints by Category FY 2017-18

6. Systemic Investigations

7. “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1862)

8. Federal Inmate Profile

9. Changing Inmate Profile • Access to Community Health Care– • 73% of federally sentenced men meet criteria for any current mental disorder. • 29% identified by CSC as requiring follow-up mental health services at admission. • Psychotropic drugs are prescribed to federal inmates at a rate of almost 4x the Canadian Average (30.4% versus 8.0%). • 33% of women meet the diagnosis for PTSD. • Incidents of self-injury doubled in last decade (now 975 by 301 prisoners). • Attempted suicides quadrupled in last decade (now 126 attempts) • Aboriginal Self-Governance– 28% of prisoners are of Aboriginal ancestry, but comprise about 5% of the Canadian adult population. 40% federally sentenced women are Indigenous. • Diversity in Canadian Society– Black Canadians represent less than 3% of the Canadian general population, but make up to 8% of the federal inmate population. The proportion of Caucasian inmates declined by about 10% in the last decade. • National Drug Strategy – 75% of prisoners have a history of substance abuse/addiction at admission. Substance abuse was directly linked with index offences in over 60% of cases.

10. Changing Inmate Profile (Cont’d) • Education – 75% of federal offenders reported no high school diploma (or equivalent) at admission. 65% enter the system with lower than Grade 8. • Employment – 62% of federally sentenced men were unemployed at the time of arrest. • Harm Reduction – In 2017, the prevalence of HIV in federal institutions was 1.2%, and 9% of federally sentenced men reported being Hepatitis C positive. • Women in Canadian Society – The number of women prisoners has increased 30% in the last 10 years (compared to -1.5% for males). The Indigenous women population increased by 43%. 68% of women offenders reported sexual abuse and 86% physical abuse. • Aging in Canadian Society – Over 25% of federally incarcerated offenders is aged 50 or over. This segment of the offender population increased by 50% over the past decade. 15% of federally sentenced women are over the age of 50.

12. Back to Basics • Corrections is in the business of Human Rights. • People are sent to prison as punishment. • Role of Corrections is the “administration of sentences,” NOT law enforcement. • Retention of all rights except those restricted as a consequence of incarceration. • Commitment to least restrictive measures paramount for optimum public safety outcomes. • Healthy workplace free of practices that undermine human dignity. Human rights of staff matter! • Correctional policy and practice respect diversity and no discrimination based on gender, ethnic, cultural, etc.

13. Back to Basics (Cont’d) • Commitment to evidence-based and best practices key to maintain balance between security and rehabilitation. • Balance between institutional and community corrections investments (MH, Indigenous, aging). • Safe and gradual reintegration through testing normalized environments with support, programs and services. • Even in most advanced democracies, compliance with human rights of prisoners requires strong external oversight. • Leadership at the top matters. • Correctional policy and practice influenced by political environment (tough on crime vs. evidence-based reform).

14. PhysicalInfrastructure • Physical infrastructure can be conducive to rehabilitation/healing/treatment and better outcome. • Infrastructure can influence correctional workplace and culture. • Much harder to implement “effective” correctional practices in antiquated infrastructure. • Most (new and old) infrastructure is more secure/restrictive/oppressive than required – if and only ifrehabilitation/healing central to correctional endeavor. • Rehabilitation/healing focus decreases the need for security and enhances institutional safety for both inmates and staff.

15. Service Infrastructure • Corrections is complex endeavor requiring a well-trained, dedicated and professional workforce. • The origin of the word Corrections is “corrigere” in LATIN, meaning “make straight, bring into order.” • Reintroduce focus on “corrigere” and “service” in CorrectionalService Canada. • Ultimate correctional outcome is lower recidivism rates and enhanced public safety. • Effective corrections requires both physical and service infrastructure to be responsive and sensitive to needs of diverse sentenced populations (i.e., inmate profile). • Mentally ill, women, ethnic/cultural groups, aging, younger, LGBTQ, etc.

16. Directions for Reform • Reallocate significant (existing) resources to support community corrections and alternatives: • Partnership with community psychiatric hospitals. • Reliance on section 81 and 84 in partnership with Indigenous communities. • Built capacity to transfer aging/dying inmates. • 24/7 health care coverage in all federal correctional facilities. • Accommodate the needs of younger and older offenders in federal custody. • Dedicated Patient Advocates at each of the five Regional Treatment Centres. • Appoint a Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous corrections. • Legislative reform of solitary confinement.