COVID-19 cases more than double in federal prisons during second wave of pandemic

OTTAWA

Canada’s prison ombudsman is calling for alternatives to incarceration in a new report that shows the number of COVID-19 cases at federal facilities more than doubled in the pandemic’s second wave.

Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger says new cases climbed to 880 at more than a dozen prisons between early November and Feb. 1, compared to 361 cases at six institutions in the first wave.

About 70 per cent of second-wave cases occurred at two Prairie facilities - the Saskatchewan Penitentiary and Manitoba’s Stony Mountain Institution - leaving Indigenous inmates disproportionately affected, the report said.

The prisons are the two largest in the country and contain some of the system’s oldest infrastructure, with an evident connection between viral spread and large shared living areas, as well as poor ventilation.

Meanwhile, health restrictions behind bars have hampered correctional programs, which range from problemsolving to role-playing exercises. That in turn has delayed parole hearings and community release, since both can hinge on fulfilling program requirements, Zinger said.

Three-metre distancing rules, for example, have reduced class sizes from as many as 15 inmates to between three and five, resulting in slower program delivery and growing backlogs.

Lack of access to computers exacerbates the challenge.

“‘If offenders had access to technology, it would be much easier for them to be provided with assignments and assistance when teachers are unable to attend the site, or when there are restrictions on distributing materials for class,”’ the report said, quoting a correctional officer.

Zinger called on the Correctional Service of Canada to prioritize early release of older inmates and those with underlying medical conditions, and to move program delivery out of prisons and into the community.

He also demanded the agency develop and make public a national vaccination strategy in the wake of more than 500 pandemic-related complaints from inmates.

More broadly, the ombudsman asked Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to consider closing aging, costly penitentiaries in favour of rehabilitation outside prison walls.

“Beyond the impacts of COVID-19, a more rigorous, humane and cost-effective community-based approach to corrections is long overdue,” the report said.

More than 3,800 cells sit empty across the country, equivalent to seven averagesized penitentiaries, Zinger noted.