Internet access is not a top priority for inmates

Recent problems and dysfunction at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre and other jails around the country have shown that there’s a lot wrong with Canada’s incarceration system. But lack of emails and internet access for inmates is not one of them. There are more important issues to deal with.

In a 2015-2016 report, the outgoing correctional investigator made recommendations on improving computer and online access for inmates. He recommended a pilot project, and full implementation of the plan in three years. The report said giving inmates laptops and tablets and providing email and internet access would make the prisoners more educated, more skilled and, once gainfully employed, less likely to reoffend.

Correctional Services of Canada agreed to the pilot project, but nearly a year later, nothing has been done. A CSC spokeswoman told the CBC the department recognizes the value of computer access to inmates, and has made them available “in school and work/ program assignment areas, institutional libraries and other designated areas.” For security reasons, CSC says the computers are not linked to external networks or the internet. That is how it should be.

But Ivan Zinger, the current correctional investigator, is not in agreement, telling CBC: “I do not buy the security issue, the privacy issue.” Zinger said security issues can be addressed, and wants CSC to move ahead with the recommendations, noting that today, there is on average one computer per 63 inmates across the country.

Zinger is not wrong to seek more computers and online services for inmates to improve their education and give them a better chance at reintegrating into mainstream society. But aside from the optics of inmates walking around jails with laptops and tablets, the plan, in the current circumstances, is misplaced.

There are very serious issues facing our justice system — overcrowded jails, misuse of solitary confinement, poor mental health care, suicides, entrenched prejudices against Indigenous people.

Consider that earlier this year, the OCDC recorded its third suicide in 10 months. Across Ontario, several inmates have died in provincial jails stretching from Lindsay to London, some due to suspected mental illness. In 2015-2016, 65 inmates died in federal prisons. Suicides are the leading cause of death in federal prisons, and prison suicides occur at five times the rate in the general population.

We know from numerous reports that care for mentally ill inmates is poor and suicide prevention is lax. Whether we are talking about the OCDC, other provincial jails or federal prisons, there is a lot that needs fixing to protect inmates. The question is, when so much is at stake and lives are being lost, why are we talking up internet access?

Most Canadians understand that their government must provide computers to inmates to help in their training and education. But why would they pay for niceties such as laptops and tablets? If the federal government provides laptops and tablets in its prisons, why would inmates in provincial jails not demand them? What would be next?

As a society, we believe that when people commit crimes, they should pay the price. But because we do not see jail as an end in itself, we prioritize rehabilitation to help offenders turn their lives around. That is why we demand humane treatment for inmates and provide vocational training and education. In today’s world, computer literacy is critical to gainful employment, and inmates must have all the training they need. If the problem is inadequate supply, as Zinger suggests, government should provide more computers in prison libraries, schools and other areas where they can be accessed.

But taxpayers have no obligation to provide personal laptops, tablets and other devices to inmates. If you are serving time and have the opportunity to study or undergo vocational training, you should have the discipline and motivation to go to the library or assignment post and make use of communal computers. Personal computers are not a necessity. Government should not be providing inmates with individual laptops and tablets so they can sit in their rooms surfing the internet. Let’s get our priorities right.