Senator Mary Jane McCallum

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak in support of Bill S-230, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Colleagues, we all know Senator Pate has done extraordinary work in bringing forward the critical need for this bill and the reasons behind its advent. I would like to reiterate and reaffirm some of the most salient points and the benefits this bill would represent, a bill that is especially critical for First Nations, Inuit, Métis and non-status women.

Bill S-230 seeks to fulfill a promise made by the federal government. In 2018-19, the government made a commitment toward ending segregation in federal prisons. This ending of segregation was to include the ending of solitary confinement and isolation, treatments which have been demonstrably proven to have had severely negative consequences for those who face such punishment. However, this government commitment has not come to fruition.

The government’s commitment on this matter at that time was not only laudable but necessary. The necessity of this commitment is rooted in upholding the human and Charter rights that are the very cornerstone of Canada’s society. However, we are continuing to learn of the myriad ways in which the government has fallen short of their promise to end this horrific and damaging practice.

Despite the changes ushered in through the government’s previous Bill C-83, we find that one in three people in these structured intervention units, or SIUs, meet the definition of existing in solitary confinement, as they are spending 22 hours a day in a cell with no meaningful human contact. For 10% of these individuals, the length of their solitary confinement is so extensive, lasting over 15 days, that it is recognized by law as constituting torture.

Based on our visit as senators to the Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba on January 17, 2024, to see these SIUs, I can confirm that they are the very same units as they had been previously, with just the name being changed.

I want you to ask yourself this question: How did these people end up where they are? When I was working with the Indigenous workers in Stony Mountain Institution, I saw the racism they were going through, and I understood. Someone in the psych unit told me that 75% of the people there had mental health problems and should not have been there.

That was in 2018. When I went back in 2024, we asked the workers questions like, “What do you do when you meet with the prisoners?” They said, “We get them to accept their behaviour and that they’re responsible for it.”

I asked, “If they’re here because they stole because they were hungry or homeless, what do you do in that situation?” They couldn’t respond.

When I attended the police meeting about remand, one of the panellists said that, in her study, one man had taken a bottle of liquor from a liquor store and was sent to jail. He was a hardened criminal 10 years later. That is the reality.

This is so close to me because if I hadn’t had support, I could very easily have ended up in prison. When you come out of institutions that have taken everything away, you come out with rage. How could you not?

When I found out about the unmarked graves at my residential school, that rage came out. That was just this year. I was so shocked that I still had that rage within me. I know and have always known that I could have ended up in prison. Because of the support I had, I didn’t. That’s why I ask you to think about why these people are there.

Colleagues, we are seeing that the length of time people are forced to endure periods of such isolation is increasing when compared to the previous segregation regimes that were in place. We are seeing that prisoners are being precluded from being empowered to initiate complaints and trigger reviews by the independent external decision makers, or IEDMs, who are in place to provide independent external oversight. Instead, these IEDMs only review cases that are referred to them by Correctional Service Canada, or CSC, thereby further silencing and marginalizing the rights and voices of prisoners.

Moreover, it has been found that in those instances where IEDMs have ordered the release of prisoners from structured intervention units, or SIUs, CSC officials are taking a longer than average time to comply with that directive compared to the time it takes them to release other prisoners whose release was not ordered by an IEDM.

As such, colleagues, we are not only seeing a failure on the part of the government as it pertains to shutting down the horrific, unacceptable and inhumane practice of segregation: we are seeing a cheapening and disrespect of the role of the independent external decision makers as CSC officials and new policy formulation have served to water down their role and their clout in this process.

Honourable senators, in response to the shortcomings of the government on this matter, Bill S-230 would implement two critical forms of court oversight to correct the systemic overuse of segregation in federal prisons. These two court oversight mechanisms are: prison authorities seeking to isolate someone for longer than 48 hours must seek court approval, reflecting the time frame during which irreversible harm can begin to occur; and prisoners may ask a court for a reduced sentence or reduced parole ineligibility period where conditions such as segregation make their sentence harsher than the sentence they were ordered to serve.

Colleagues, these forms of court oversight are not arbitrarily founded, nor are they created out of thin air. These are based on thoughtful and vital recommendations made by Justice Louise Arbour in 1996 via the Commission of Inquiry into certain events at the Prison for Women in Kingston. As Justice Arbour reflected at that time:

I see no alternative to the current overuse of prolonged segregation but to recommend that it be placed under the control and supervision of the courts.

In light of the government’s inadequate attempt to rectify this heinous issue, it is long overdue for us to dutifully heed the wise and prudent words of Justice Arbour.

Honourable senators, it will come as no surprise to any of you that Indigenous peoples represent a staggeringly high percentage of Canada’s prison population when compared to their percentage of Canada’s general population. This overrepresentation is worse when considering Indigenous women and, worse yet, when considering the makeup of those most impacted by the use of SIUs.

Indigenous women make up half of the women in federal prisons. They also make up a shocking 96% of those women isolated in SIUs. Given this reality, I ask each of you, my fellow senators, to consider some of the profound documents we have collectively championed over recent years in this chamber. We have extolled the virtues of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report and Calls to Action. We have underscored the importance of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, or MMIWG, and their resulting Calls for Justice. We have endorsed and legislated an action plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRIP.

That is all well and fine, but that simply represents words on paper. What are we actually doing to rectify the issues touted in these important documents?

Article 7.1 of UNDRIP states that “Indigenous individuals have the rights to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security of person.”

However, we are seeing Indigenous peoples largely being the ones falling victim to the impacts of SIUs wreaking mental and physical warfare on their person and resulting in cases of schizophrenia and worse. Remember that these are women who are in the most vulnerable state.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, or TRC, Call to Action number 30 calls upon “. . . federal, provincial, and territorial governments to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in custody . . . .”

Call to Action number 41 calls upon:

. . . the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal organizations, to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the disproportionate victimization of Aboriginal women and girls.

However, we see that the number of Indigenous prisoners remains sky-high, and Indigenous women are overrepresented in victimizing situations within our very correctional system by forcing them into these SIUs, despite the known and well-documented deleterious impacts they have on those who face this treatment.

The MMIWG Call for Justice 5.21 calls on the federal government “. . . to reduce the gross overrepresentation of Indigenous women and girls in the criminal justice system.” However, instead, we again see these numbers continue to balloon.

Colleagues, this is the uncomfortable question we must ask ourselves: Are we doing enough? Moreover, are we doing enough to ensure a meaningful, positive change in outcomes for our First Peoples in practice as opposed to simply in theory? We are all very keen and self-congratulatory in passing frameworks and speaking about the need for change; however, Bill S-230 actually actions and moves the needle forward on that change in a real and tangible way.

We often hear of the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples, and particularly Indigenous women in our prisons. We often hear of the critical importance of those three aforementioned instruments: the TRC’s Calls to Action, the MMIWG Calls for Justice and the many articles of UNDRIP. However, these guiding documents simply provide a road map to solutions; they do not actually provide solutions themselves. These issues will never resolve until we have strong and decisive political will and political action to change the status quo.

We decry the treatment of Indigenous women and agree with how horrific the findings of the MMIWG national inquiry were. Let us take steps toward correcting this issue. Bill S-230 represents one such step. Through its passage, we can stop subjecting Indigenous people and Indigenous women to the cruel and unusual punishment that we see represented within these SIUs.

Make no mistake about it: Indigenous peoples — and Indigenous women in particular — are most impacted by this form of alleged justice. We have a solemn duty to uphold, do the right thing and pass Bill S-230.

Thank you.