Rights commission pans province’s proposals for use of solitary in jails

TORONTO Recently proposed amendments to segregation laws will do little to protect inmates from abusive conditions, Ontario’s Human Rights Commission says.

The changes, the commission says in a submission, do not address practices found to violate both the Canadian charter and the Ontario human rights code.

“The (commission) is disappointed with the proposed amendments, which do nothing to substantively address serious issues with Ontario’s continued abuse of segregation,” the submission states. “The ministry has not moved forward with urgent and necessary legislative protections.”

Regulation 778, which governs adult correctional institutions and the use of segregation, requires a superintendent to review segregation placements at least every five days. The rules also allow prisoners to be placed in disciplinary segregation for up to 30 days in a row.

In August, the province’s Ministry of the Solicitor General put forward two amendments to the regulation. The first would limit disciplinary segregation to 15 days. The second would require an assistant deputy minister rather than a superintendent to review a segregation placement every five days.

The ministry says the change aligns with existing operational policy. The commission, however, says the proposed changes aren’t good enough. At best, it says, they would afford inmates the “absolute minimum” protection mandated by the Constitution.

There is widespread expert agreement that solitary confinement can cause severe and lasting psychological damage, especially for those with mental-health issues. Courts across Canada have upended rules governing the practice, both at the federal and provincial levels, and several class-action lawsuits have arisen.

Last year, the then-Liberal government agreed to stop placing inmates with mental-health disabilities in solitary confinement at its 26 correctional facilities.

“Minor amendments to an outdated regulation will not address the harm being caused to prisoners under the current segregation system,” the commission states. “Addressing this harm requires real action, not half measures.”

Solicitor General Sylvia Jones had no comment Thursday but ministry spokesman Andrew Morrison said recent court decisions have created new requirements.

“The government is taking responsible steps to comply with these new legal obligations by moving forward with regulatory updates,” Morrison said.

The Canadian Press