Jail is no vacation — especially during COVID-19
There are no masks, and proper soap is in short supply, says Deepan Budlakoti.
In a recent Ottawa Citizen article, Michael David Reid, a man formerly incarcerated at the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Detention Centre, described his time there as “a vacation at the Four Seasons.” As someone who has been locked up at OCDC for over 30 months, I feel obligated to respond to this, particularly in the context of a pandemic.
Throughout this pandemic, the usual lack of safety and security felt among prisoners has only been exacerbated, with serious consequences for the mental and physical health of those being held at the Ottawa jail. We were not considered or consulted when steps were taken by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services during COVID-19, and we’ve had no access to visits or programs.
Although correctional officers recently started wearing personal protective equipment at OCDC, this was only after the outbreaks at Toronto South, Hamilton
Wentworth Detention Centre, and the now-closed Ontario Correctional Institute. As people incarcerated in proximity, with no ability to physically distance from each other, we have no access to masks, or any personal protective equipment. While we have requested items such as masks, proper soap, sanitizer and gloves in an effort to take care of ourselves and each other, all of our requests have been denied.
We are responsible for cleaning our living area, showers, hallways, and cells and no professional cleaning has occurred within the unit since COVID-19. The only thing that has actually changed since this pandemic is that they have given us a slightly bigger spray bottle to clean with. We want better cleaning equipment to ensure our health and safety, and a professional cleaning of the living units.
People outside are taking precautions, while we don’t even have the most basic protections. Even though public health authorities have said that measures are being put in place for the safety of our society, it looks like the ministry doesn’t care for our safety and sees us as second-class citizens even though we are supposed to be protected by them.
We have no access to haircuts even though policy says that we’re supposed to get haircuts, and OCDC hasn’t provided any alternatives. There is no duty counsel available to help people who are self-representing, which is particularly concerning with the ongoing pandemic, considering that people’s rights and lives are at stake.
As Chief Justice Richard Wagner once wrote: “The right to liberty and presumption of innocence are fundamental (tenets) of the criminal justice system. In addition, being detained prior to trial can have a serious impact on (a) person’s ability to mount a defence.” These impacts are further exacerbated in the context of a pandemic, where connections to family and community are limited.
On top of this, court dates are being delayed and cases are falling behind, which increases stress for people going through court proceedings. This leads to poorer mental health at a time when mental-health nurses are hard to get hold of.
In a time when many of us would like to eat nutritious meals in order to safeguard our health, we are unable to, as Ontario jails serve reheated cook-chill meals, which fail to meet the 2019 Canada Food Guide requirements, as highlighted by Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger.
OCDC is not a vacation, contrary to what Reid wrote; it is a site of human suffering. Reid’s age, skin colour, placement and security level all factored into his experience. During my “Four Seasons vacation,” I live in constant fear of contracting a serious illness, and I find it shocking and appalling that a person who’s been here for six weeks would say that OCDC is a four-star vacation.
Deepan Budlakoti is incarcerated at the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Detention Centre.
He’s an advocate for the human rights of prisoners and people with precarious immigration status. Contact him by mail: 2244 Innes Road, Gloucester, Ont., K1B 4C4.