Ottawa wins reprieve on new solitary law

TORONTO • The federal government eked out a four-month reprieve for its solitary confinement law on Monday despite criticism from Ontario’s top court about Ottawa’s failure to address concerns around segregation practices over the past year.

A judge had struck down the law as unconstitutional a year ago, but put his ruling on hold for 12 months to give the government time to fix things. However, Ottawa said it was working on legislation and unable to meet Tuesday’s looming deadline.

It asked for an extension until the end of July 2019. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which is pressing the case, argued against any extension.

In its decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal extended the deadline until April 30, 2019.

“While Canada’s failure to address the concerns identified by the court is disappointing, we are satisfied that an extension of the declaration is necessary to enable the legislative process to be completed,” the Appeal Court said.

“Giving immediate effect to the declaration of invalidity, without any measures in place to protect those currently held in administrative segregation and Correctional Service of Canada personnel, would pose an unacceptable danger to such individuals and, ultimately, to the public.”