Jail lockdowns an Ontario disgrace
The word “crisis” seem inadequate, somehow, to describe the situation at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. It is certainly alarming that the jail has had more than 45 full or partial lockdowns halfway through the year — on track to double last year’s number. But this did not come out of nowhere. The problems at the jail have been known for years and the Ontario government has chosen not to fix them, putting inmates, workers and society at greater risk.
“Ottawa’s jail is a disgrace,” the Citizen’s editorial board wrote, way back in 2004, soon after a Citizen report by Juliet O’Neill that exposed crowded conditions, lack of access to basic services for inmates and security fears.
That was soon after the Liberals took office; they couldn’t be blamed for the condition the detention centre was in then. But they have been in office now for more than a decade, while the detention centre continues to be a dangerous blot on Ontario’s moral record.
In 2013, ombudsman André Marin said the place “exemplifies everything that is wrong in a correctional institution.”
Although the Ottawa detention centre has a history of overcrowding and poor conditions, it isn’t the only facility in Ontario seeing a surge in staffing-related lockdowns. When there aren’t enough staff to cover vacations or sick leave, inmates are kept in their cells. Access to showers, fresh air, visitors, legal advice, medical care and programming might be curtailed. Remember that about two out of every three people in custody in Ontario are on remand, which means they are awaiting trial or sentencing. Remand custody is not punishment, but it is certainly punishing.
The government of Ontario has a legal and moral duty to make sure that prisoners have access to their lawyers, that mentally ill prisoners have access to the care they need, that staff are not put in danger, that inmates do not emerge from their time in the detention centre more angry and troubled than when they went in. Lockdowns could create further delays in our already backlogged justice system. They could increase the anguish of family members who are turned away at the gate.
Lockdowns will always be a necessary occasional response in correctional facilities. But they are quickly becoming the default method of dealing with chronic understaffing. Correctional Services Minister Yasir Naqvi said in a written statement that the ministry is “working to address the root causes of these lockdowns by hiring more officers and continuing to work closely with staff to manage daily staffing requirements.” But the “root cause” of the staffing shortage and the pre-existing crowding isn’t something that just appeared out of the blue; it happened on the Liberal watch.
This is sheer, unacceptable incompetence on the part of the provincial government.