Mea culpa from CSC
‘I want to express our deepest and sincerest condolences’
Don Head, commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, issued the following statement Tuesday in connection with the Correctional Investigator of Canada’s report into the death of Matthew Ryan Hines of Sydney.
“On behalf of the Correctional Service of Canada, I want to express our deepest and sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Matthew Hines on the tragic loss of their loved one. I also want to apologize to Mr. Hines’ family for the inaccurate information that was shared with them at the time of his death. Our thoughts continue to be with them as we work to create meaningful change in response to the issues that contributed to Mr. Hines’ death.
We recognize there were significant areas of concern with respect to the use of force against Mr. Hines and with the overall response to his medical distress situation that concluded with his death. Mr. Hines’ death, as with any other death in custody, was an unfortunate tragedy and in this case possibly could have been prevented if there had been a series of different responses on May 26, 2015. We want to assure Mr. Hines’ family and friends, and all Canadians, that CSC takes every death in custody seriously and we are committed to making sure the important lessons learned from his death are engrained in our response to similar situations in the future.
The correctional investigator’s report provides additional insight and recommendations that will build on our ongoing action plan and the corrective measures we have already taken following our board of investigation report into Mr. Hines’ death.
On behalf of CSC, I am accepting the recommendations put forward by the OCI.
My senior management team and I continue to collaborate at the national, regional and institutional levels to meet the commitments identified in our action plan on Mr. Hines’ death.
For example, we have updated our policies and enhanced our training programs, including new simulation exercises based on the specific factors of this case. We know that work remains to prevent deaths in custody. Our response to the OCI’s report will ensure, at the end of the day, that any medical distress situation results in a more timely and appropriate response with the primary focus of preserving life. CSC will continue to work diligently and deliberately to make the necessary improvements and ensure that all existing and new staff fully understand their legislative and policy obligations.”