Report of the SEFQ to the General Assembly of CAEFS

May 2009

Carceral Population of Joliette Institution

The carceral population has been between 93 and 104 women over the course of the year. At the moment, the population is at 100, 89 of whom are in the institution: 13 maximum security, 52 medium security and 35 minimum security. 13 women currently reside in the maximum unit and 6 in the SLE.

Among others, the carceral population is comprised of 23 lifers and 2 long sentences. One lifer is the object of an administrative protocol. Between now and 2013, three women will begin their judicial reviews. Currently, three lifers are on appeal of their sentence, one of whom is proclaiming her innocence. Recently, another one lost her appeal. We are closely following the cases of all of the women on appeal but are particularly interested in the case of the woman who claims not to have killed the victim. She is a young Sri Lankan woman who at the time of her trial spoke neither french nor english. In the opinion of our lawyer, Lida Nouraie, the judicial file and the evidence show irregularities that lead us to believe that she was not properly defended.

In 2008-2009, the institution received 49 new admissions and 24 readmissions. 62 women were liberated : 24 on day parole, 6 on full parole, 22 on statutory release, 9 at end of sentence, one on a long-term supervision order, and one escaped during an escorted temporary absence.

Maximum Security Unit

The maximum security unit is made up of 10 regular cells and 4 segregation cells. Construction will begin this spring to transform one interview room into a reinforced security multi-purpose room in order to allow women under administrative protocol to receive visitors without the presence of a PW. This room will also permit these women to spend time out of their cells for training and other activities. At the moment, these women are kept locked in their small cells without the possibility of going out unless accompanied by correctional officers. The construction should be completed in mid-July barring any delays.

In addition, one of the segregation cells will be modified to receive a women under suicide watch with a security camera. At this time, only Health Care has a bed permitting this.

Correctional Investigator

Following the death of Ashley Smith, the Office of the Correctional Investigator has asked the CSC to create a policy permitting external organizations to visit women residing in the segregation unit.

In its plan of action, the administration of Joliette Institution proposes that the Citizen’s Advisory Committee be invited to visit the segregation unit 3 or 4 times a year.

In addition, I proposed that our lawyer, Lida Nouraie, be able to visit the women in segregation each time she is at the institution. This suggestion was accepted by the administration. We will see if it actually happens. With time, the segregation unit has been more and more difficult to access, even for organizations such as ours. I hope that this new policy will give us more access to these women.

The State of Joliette Institution

In this section, you will have an overview of the main changes and problems seen over the course of the year:

  • The prohibition of tobacco has had a major impact on the lives of the women. This situation has not only caused the women to become indebted to have access to tobacco but has also transformed the PWs into agents of repression. This has had an effect of creating an even bigger gap between the women and the workers responsible for the enforcement of the rules.

This situation has also had an impact on the visitors to the institution. Each one is suspected of illegally entering tobacco.

Following rumours last April, all personnel entering the institution were subject to a search. Nice work climate.

  • The absence of an inmate committee has left the population without representation which has as a consequence left the women with no activities nor official representative to the administration.
  • As a result of increased security measures, visitors are having limited access to the institution. There are more rules and restraints and this situation has resulted in fewer visits. In addition, the visitors are subjected to search procedures that discourage families from visiting.
  • The volunteers have reacted strongly to the notion that the women who once participated in their activities while incarcerated are not permitted to write to them at the institution. We are going to propose that the SEFQ become a post office box for these women and their volunteers.
  • This year, a new directive from Ottawa forbids women found guilty of a crime against a person from being in the presence of a child in the institution. Some of these women lived in the mother-child unit as peer support counsellors to the mothers and their children. They have been forced to change living units and have been forbidden from having any contact with these children. This directive has created much pain for these women. We have been worried for a long time that this directive would apply to women in the halfway house as well. For the moment, the directive is limited to incarcerated women.
  • Joliette Insitution has been trying to adjust to the latest reform initiated by the conservative government called Transformation where not only security is highlighted but also a 12 hour day for each inmate in Canada. This means that each man and woman incarcerated in a federal institution must be occupied for 12 consecutive hours. We now have two preventive security officers and many government workers desperately searching for ways to occupy inmates for 12 hours a day. Since this has become one of their objectives, they are more open to exterior work placements. We are trying to solicit the business community of Joliette to offer work placements to our clientel.
  • The CSC has started recruiting new candidates to occupy the posts of PW. We hope that the personnel will be chosen judiciously and will demonstrate an ability to work with a female clientel.
  • To finish, last year the women benefitted from an increase in the money allocated for their food. They now have $35.00 per week to buy their groceries.

Philippe-Pinel Insititute

During the year, there have been between 9 and 10 women in the institution. At the moment of the writing of this report, 10 women live in F1. They come from the Quebec region (5), Ontario (2), the West (2) and British Columbia (1). The Maritime Region has not referred clients since January 2008.

Three women were the object of anti-suicide measures. Many times over the course of the year they were put under suicide watch. Some of them have serious self-mutilation problems. The head criminologist, Richard Lusignant, head of F1, told us that Pinel Institute has not had a suicide since 1995. The intensity of the distress of some of these patients is keeping the treating team on high alert. The unit psychiatrist, Dr. Fugère has asked the court to commit two of these patients. For one of them, Pinel has created a regime of protection.

The institutions for women now have teleconference systems which will allow for case discussions with medical teams of the different institutions. In addition, F1 now has a promotional video that will serve to make their program known to the correctional officers of different institutions for women.

Lyne Bolduc, our Lifeline worker, regularly visits the women of F1. We also organized activities for them at Christmas and Easter.

Agir par l’imaginaire

The project is ongoing and the participants are still interested in this project. They are very professional and creative. In general, we have good collaboration with the various institutions.

There are certain places that are easier than others however, especially Tanguay Prison which has been extraordinarily open to this project.

We have completed 5 workshops: self-portait, video, singing, photography and acting. We are preparing the slam workshop in Joliette.

The organization Engrenage noir with whom we are doing this project has created a blog that will allow you to follow the evolution of the project. We invite you to take a look.

Tanguay Prison

Despite the fact that the population is extremely high, so much so that women are obligated to sleep on mattresses on the floor, our halfway house remains under utilized by the Correctional Service of Quebec. The main reason for this is a decrease in referrals to the halfway house by the Quebec Parole Board (CQLC), in part because of missing documents in casefiles.

The two concerned parties, Tanguay and the CQLC, blame each other for their inability to respect timelines. In the meantime, women stay in prison and we wait for clients who are not released. We can assist certain women by accepting them temporarily at the end of their sentence but this situation deprives a number of women of parole.