Ottawa seeking new prison watchdog
Outgoing Howard Sapers criticized Tories’ treatment of aboriginals, mentally ill
Ottawa is searching for a new prison ombudsman after refusing to extend the contract for the current Correctional Investigator for Canada beyond one year.
Howard Sapers, who has held the position for eleven years and been a vocal critic of the Harper government’s treatment of mentally ill and Aboriginal inmates, as well as the use of solitary confinement, was recently told he would remain on the job only until a replacement was found.
Sapers had told Public Safety Minister Stephen Blaney over a year ago that he would like to remain in his role for another term, which is typically three or four years. Canada’s prior ombudsman held the position for 25 years.
But Sapers’ fate was unknown with just hours to go before his term expired on March 31, when Blaney made a recommendation that he would stay on — but only temporarily.
“Reappointing me for up to one year without giving me, or my organization, any certainty about the length of the term is a little destabilizing,” Sapers said in an interview with the Toronto Star.
“It’s very hard to be a small, independent agency trying to hold a large government department to account. The role of this agency should be nurtured and supported and this is not the way to support that role.”
Liberal Public Safety Critic Wayne Easter said keeping Sapers “in limbo” will impact the work of his department and accused the Harper government of playing politics with a vital oversight role.
“He’s absolutely right. When your chief executive officer, so to speak if you’re talking about a business, is in limbo, it doesn’t only effect the person, it effects your whole establishment,” Easter said.
“There is no question it jeopardizes the ability of the office to do what it is expected to do.
“This is a prime minister that really doesn’t care about much other than his own ideology.
“There’s nothing in terms of Howard Sapers’ appointment that is going to enhance Stephen Harper’s agenda.”
Blaney could not be reached for comment.
Emails to his spokespeople were not returned.
Sapers’ office has never shied away from challenging the government. His office weighed into the politically sensitive case of former Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr, urging that his security classification be reassessed given his exemplary prison record.
Soon after, Khadr was reclassified as a “medium,” not a “maximum” security inmate.
Controversy about the prison ombudsmancomes at a time when the federal government is under pressure to provide greater oversight concerning federal agencies involved in intelligence or policing.
Earlier this month, as part of Parliament’s debate about Bill C-51, which would expand the role of federal agencies in investigating security threats, the review agencies for both of Canada’s spy services expressed concerns about their ability to provide oversight.
Ottawa is also introducing strict new sentencing guidelines as part of the Conservative government’s tough-on-crime agenda.
In announcing the measures last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared that “a life sentence in Canada will henceforth mean exactly that — a sentence for life.”
Sapers countered at the time that inmates convicted of first-degree murder are supervised in the community by a parole officer once their 25-year term is served with a “very, very low recidivism rate of any kind, let alone recidivism involving violent crime.”
He warned that the new measure risk adding to the congestion already in Canada’s prisons.