Kirk Makin — Justice Reporter
Globe and Mail
A wave of mentally ill women is flooding into the Canadian penitentiary system, sparking calls for reform and the creation of treatment facilities that already exist for male offenders.
Across the country, prisons are grappling with the problem of a sharp increase in mentally impaired inmates. But the issue is particularly acute with women.
Some experts see the deteriorating situation as a sign that enlightened policies have broken down under the weight of sheer numbers and the realities of prison culture.
“You now have people in correctional facilities with the severest mental illnesses you could possibly find,” said Colin Cameron, a psychiatrist at Ontario’s St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre. “Recognizing the challenges faced by Correctional Service Canada, their needs really haven’t been well met.”
On Friday, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre and the Brockville Mental Health Centre, along with Senator Robert Runciman – who spearheaded the creation of a unique, therapy-first facility for male offenders – will try to do the same for women.
Mr. Runciman said they will select a successful tender in a competition to prepare a business plan for a women’s treatment facility. He said he hopes to submit it to the federal government in
March. “The need is clearly greater on the female side of the federal system at the moment,” Mr. Runciman said. “We are going to make a lot of noise about this.”
One of the biggest concerns is access to proper care.
Women in maximum security, who often suffer the most serious mental problems, are not permitted to enter in-prison psychiatric units because they are deemed too dangerous. Many are instead confined to isolation cells or subdued by chemical and physical restraints. Untreated, they are likely to emerge from prison in even worse shape than when they went in.
“Women subjected to these conditions tend to develop new mental-health conditions and symptoms,” said Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. “Quite frankly, we are also seeing more bizarre behaviour as a response to conditions.
The women with the most significant mental-health issues tend to be in maximum security, but they never have access to the very treatment units they most need.”
The glut of mentally impaired female offenders epitomizes a problem plaguing the entire penal system. Tougher laws and sentences have created a pressing need for more prison cells, but the needs of the mentally ill are playing a small role in federal expansion plans.
While the male prison population of about 13,000 has changed little over the years and still dwarfs the female population, the number of female offenders has skyrocketed from 210 to 500 in the past 20 years.
It also encompasses a higher rate of mental illness.
By some measures, 40 to 45 per cent of female offenders have serious mental afflictions – and some experts claim that this underestimates the problem. Kelly Hannah-Moffat, chair of the sociology department at the University of Toronto, said close to 100 per cent of female
offenders suffer from a debilitating mental problem such as psychosis,
clinical depression, schizophrenia or coping strategies that involve
self-harm.
“It is really hard to find somebody who doesn’t have some of those issues,” she said.
Why do female offenders exhibit so many mental problems? Women have higher rates of depression and mood-related issues, said Nicole Loreto, a spokesperson for Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, which has created a specialty of women’s health. “Mood disorders involve a
complex interplay of women’s biology, hormonal makeup and psycho-social pressures.”
An overwhelming majority have also suffered sexual or physical abuse. “A history of trauma is a risk factor for the development of depression and to some degree schizophrenia,” Ms. Loreto said.
Federal Correctional investigator Howard Sapers has estimated the suicide rate among female offenders at seven times the Canadian average. Many act out violently or mutilate their bodies to express anger and frustration.
“When someone has a heart attack, we would never presume that the problem can be handled in a prison,” Ms. Pate said. “So why do we think that someone with significant mental-health issues can be handled in a prison setting?”
Ms. Pate attributed the growing number of mentally ill female offenders to well-meaning judges who erroneously believe that women are going to get proper psychiatric treatment in prison.
“The judges never anticipate that they are going to be put in segregation in the most austere conditions,” she said. “There is a presumption that services that no longer exist in the community – or never did – are being provided in a prison setting and can meet the
therapeutic needs of women. But our experience is quite the opposite since those units opened.”
Ms. Pate said she went to a Saskatchewan penitentiary recently to see a psychotic inmate who was strapped to a hospital bed, her arms and legs immobilized and atrophied.
“I had to look through a mail slot and up through her legs to speak to her,” Ms. Pate said. “This was a woman with a history of sexual abuse. … My sense was that her behaviour was certainly exacerbated by prison.”
Shoshana Pollack, a sociology professor at Wilfrid Laurier University,said that prison and treatment simply don’t mix well. “They are concerned with controlling and predicting the likelihood of the person committing another offence – which is a very different mandate than
healing, dealing with and confronting experiences of trauma.”
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Please visit the following link to sign an important petition to support gravely ill migrant farm worker Phillip Allen's bid to stay in Canada...
... and to stay alive.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Phillip-Allen-to-stay-in-Canada/
January 2011
We, the undersigned, write to request the Canadian government to exercise its discretion under s.25(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to permit Phillip Allen to apply for permanent residency from within Canada.
Phillip is a hardworking and dedicated husband and father who has made invaluable contributions to the migrant worker community and to Canadian society. From 2003 to 2007, he came to Canada from Jamaica each year and worked for 8 months of the year as a productive member of Canadian society as part of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. As a legally employed worker, he contributed from his income to Canadian provincial and federal taxes and to employment insurance. He was consistently requested back by his employer.
When his kidneys failed in July 2007, Phillip became dependent on regular dialysis to survive. Without dialysis, Phillip will be dead in between 7 to 10 days. If he is forced to return to Jamaica, he will not receive dialysis. Public facilities are crippled by such long waiting lists that people die while waiting for treatment and private facilities are far too expensive for Phillip. Despite this reality, and Phillip's many contributions to Canadian society, his refugee claim has been denied. A successful humanitarian and compassionate claim is his only hope to remain in Canada.
Phillip is an important and contributing member of his community. He is a volunteer youth group leader twice a week for the youth at the Brampton Church of God, which he has been attending since 2003. Phillip is a pillar of strength for other dialysis patients; he always has words of encouragement and a positive outlook to help lift their spirits and in doing so, improve their health.
Though he can no longer work, Phillip has also remained active in the migrant farm worker community. He has donated his time, his positive outlook and his stories as a public lecturer, travelling throughout southern Ontario to share his experiences as a migrant worker with the Canadian public.
Phillip Allen is an asset to Canada and a courageous, cheerful individual. He will never receive dialysis if he is returned to Jamaica; this would be his death warrant. We ask that such a vibrant individual be allowed to stay in Canada and continue to make these contributions. If he is returned, not only will his wife and children lose a loved one, but his Canadian community will have lost a dear friend. We urge the Federal Government to accept Phillip Allen's humanitarian and compassionate claim.
To sign this petition, please visit: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Phillip-Allen-to-stay-in-Canada/
Please share widely across your networks.
http://www.thepetitionsite.
January 2011
We, the undersigned, write to request the Canadian government to exercise its discretion under s.25(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to permit Phillip Allen to apply for permanent residency from within Canada.
Phillip is a hardworking and dedicated husband and father who has made invaluable contributions to the migrant worker community and to Canadian society. From 2003 to 2007, he came to Canada from Jamaica each year and worked for 8 months of the year as a productive member of Canadian society as part of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. As a legally employed worker, he contributed from his income to Canadian provincial and federal taxes and to employment insurance. He was consistently requested back by his employer.
When his kidneys failed in July 2007, Phillip became dependent on regular dialysis to survive. Without dialysis, Phillip will be dead in between 7 to 10 days. If he is forced to return to Jamaica, he will not receive dialysis. Public facilities are crippled by such long waiting lists that people die while waiting for treatment and private facilities are far too expensive for Phillip. Despite this reality, and Phillip's many contributions to Canadian society, his refugee claim has been denied. A successful humanitarian and compassionate claim is his only hope to remain in Canada.
Phillip is an important and contributing member of his community. He is a volunteer youth group leader twice a week for the youth at the Brampton Church of God, which he has been attending since 2003. Phillip is a pillar of strength for other dialysis patients; he always has words of encouragement and a positive outlook to help lift their spirits and in doing so, improve their health.
Though he can no longer work, Phillip has also remained active in the migrant farm worker community. He has donated his time, his positive outlook and his stories as a public lecturer, travelling throughout southern Ontario to share his experiences as a migrant worker with the Canadian public.
Phillip Allen is an asset to Canada and a courageous, cheerful individual. He will never receive dialysis if he is returned to Jamaica; this would be his death warrant. We ask that such a vibrant individual be allowed to stay in Canada and continue to make these contributions. If he is returned, not only will his wife and children lose a loved one, but his Canadian community will have lost a dear friend. We urge the Federal Government to accept Phillip Allen's humanitarian and compassionate claim.
To sign this petition, please visit: http://www.thepetitionsite.
Please share widely across your networks.
G20 Defendant Alex Hundert Released from Prison, Actions of Crown Widely Condemned
January 28, 2010, Toronto - After having spent three consecutive months in jail without trial, G20 defendant Alex Hundert was released from the Toronto West Detention Centre on January 24th.
His release came after he signed a plea bargain with the Crown that he was guilty of being in breach of his “no protest condition” for being present during one portion of the panel at Ryerson University. The plea found him not guilty of breach for speaking on a panel at Laurier University, nor did the plea establish that speaking on a panel was equivalent to a public
demonstration.
On being released from jail, Hundert said, “I made this plea because I realised that I was doing no good to anyone as I sat in jail. There will be no justice in the courts because they exist to protect an unjust and hierarchical order. So I took a deal that would allow me to get back into
my community where I can continue to commit myself to issues of social and environmental justice.” Read Hundert’s statement in full here:
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/blog/alex-hundert/5868
Initially arrested in a violent pre-emptive house raid in June on “conspiracy” charges, Hundert was re-arrested after being accused of breaching his 'no public demonstration' bail condition for speaking at panel discussions at Wilfrid Laurier and Ryerson University in September 2010. Plainclothes officers were present at both of these events.
Commented Nathalie Des Rosiers, General Counsel at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on the entire operation, “It seems preposterous to think that public resources, policing and even corrections resources have been spent to prevent someone from attending and speaking at a University seminar. The process was unfair and the charges were exaggerated: it ought
not to have happened.”
Numerous academic bodies, unions, and civil society organizations have publicly expressed their support of Alex and have condemned the crackdown on dissent. The Canadian Association of University Teachers, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, BC Civil Liberties Association, and Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario, have all issued statements to the Attorney General to this effect.
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations wrote in a public letter, “This criminalization of legitimate dissent represents an assault on both Mr. Hundert’s freedom of expression and the freedom of our universities to foster debate and discussion on issues of public
importance. Academic freedom – the ability to engage in controversial or challenging dialogue without fear of reprisal – is a cherished value of Ontario’s universities. Such freedom cannot exist when subjected to state surveillance or arbitrary exercise of state power.”
In a statement issued on behalf of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), David Bleakney, National Union Representative for CUPW, stated, "This travesty is about much more than just Alex however. It is about a legal and political order that promotes the erosion of rights, freedoms, and justice.” The bail condition forbidding participation in public demonstrations has itself come under scrutiny, and is the subject of a constitutional challenge put forward by G20 defendant Jaggi Singh.
Out of the over 1000 people who were arrested during the G20 in Toronto, only a handful of charges remain. Many of those arrested were never charged, and the months since have seen hundreds of those who were have their charges dropped. The abuses perpetrated by the police during and outside of the G20 summit have been gaining wide attention and condemnation in the public eye.
Adds Yogi Acharya, member of No One Is Illegal Toronto, “This on-going debacle of political targeting of activists gets more transparent to the general public every day. The Police and the Office of the Attorney General ought to be held accountable for their actions; not just during
the G20, but for the daily violence they inflict on marginalized communities.”
His release came after he signed a plea bargain with the Crown that he was guilty of being in breach of his “no protest condition” for being present during one portion of the panel at Ryerson University. The plea found him not guilty of breach for speaking on a panel at Laurier University, nor did the plea establish that speaking on a panel was equivalent to a public
demonstration.
On being released from jail, Hundert said, “I made this plea because I realised that I was doing no good to anyone as I sat in jail. There will be no justice in the courts because they exist to protect an unjust and hierarchical order. So I took a deal that would allow me to get back into
my community where I can continue to commit myself to issues of social and environmental justice.” Read Hundert’s statement in full here:
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/
Initially arrested in a violent pre-emptive house raid in June on “conspiracy” charges, Hundert was re-arrested after being accused of breaching his 'no public demonstration' bail condition for speaking at panel discussions at Wilfrid Laurier and Ryerson University in September 2010. Plainclothes officers were present at both of these events.
Commented Nathalie Des Rosiers, General Counsel at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on the entire operation, “It seems preposterous to think that public resources, policing and even corrections resources have been spent to prevent someone from attending and speaking at a University seminar. The process was unfair and the charges were exaggerated: it ought
not to have happened.”
Numerous academic bodies, unions, and civil society organizations have publicly expressed their support of Alex and have condemned the crackdown on dissent. The Canadian Association of University Teachers, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, BC Civil Liberties Association, and Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario, have all issued statements to the Attorney General to this effect.
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations wrote in a public letter, “This criminalization of legitimate dissent represents an assault on both Mr. Hundert’s freedom of expression and the freedom of our universities to foster debate and discussion on issues of public
importance. Academic freedom – the ability to engage in controversial or challenging dialogue without fear of reprisal – is a cherished value of Ontario’s universities. Such freedom cannot exist when subjected to state surveillance or arbitrary exercise of state power.”
In a statement issued on behalf of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), David Bleakney, National Union Representative for CUPW, stated, "This travesty is about much more than just Alex however. It is about a legal and political order that promotes the erosion of rights, freedoms, and justice.” The bail condition forbidding participation in public demonstrations has itself come under scrutiny, and is the subject of a constitutional challenge put forward by G20 defendant Jaggi Singh.
Out of the over 1000 people who were arrested during the G20 in Toronto, only a handful of charges remain. Many of those arrested were never charged, and the months since have seen hundreds of those who were have their charges dropped. The abuses perpetrated by the police during and outside of the G20 summit have been gaining wide attention and condemnation in the public eye.
Adds Yogi Acharya, member of No One Is Illegal Toronto, “This on-going debacle of political targeting of activists gets more transparent to the general public every day. The Police and the Office of the Attorney General ought to be held accountable for their actions; not just during
the G20, but for the daily violence they inflict on marginalized communities.”
CKLN Licence Revoked
Thanks to everyone who has been calling in. If you want to express your support for CKLN, please send your comments to board@ckln.fm. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will send them to the CRTC.
CKLN Statement on the CRTC's Decision
The Commission's decision to revoke our license is shocking, heart-breaking and, according to CRTC Commissioner Louise Poirier, "unprecedented".
CKLN has been faithfully serving a diverse Toronto audience for more than 27 years. It is a place where anyone can get trained, learn about broadcasting and speak to their community. We have provided a place for new music, new voices and under-represented issues. We have been the Voice of the Underground.
We were not in compliance while CKLN was off-air in 2009 and in intermittent subsequent periods but this was completely unintentional and once the problems were identified, we collectively undertook in good faith to remedy them. We are responsible campus and community broadcasters and the unprecedented decision of the CRTC to revoke our license rather than issue a mandatory order took us and the broadcast community entirely by surprise.
If this decision stands it is a huge loss for Toronto and for community media across the country.
For more information, please see http://www.facebook.com/l/18763PZ4Tvy39BpC-dyj1tXPUxw;www.ckln.fm
CKLN Statement on the CRTC's Decision
The Commission's decision to revoke our license is shocking, heart-breaking and, according to CRTC Commissioner Louise Poirier, "unprecedented".
CKLN has been faithfully serving a diverse Toronto audience for more than 27 years. It is a place where anyone can get trained, learn about broadcasting and speak to their community. We have provided a place for new music, new voices and under-represented issues. We have been the Voice of the Underground.
We were not in compliance while CKLN was off-air in 2009 and in intermittent subsequent periods but this was completely unintentional and once the problems were identified, we collectively undertook in good faith to remedy them. We are responsible campus and community broadcasters and the unprecedented decision of the CRTC to revoke our license rather than issue a mandatory order took us and the broadcast community entirely by surprise.
If this decision stands it is a huge loss for Toronto and for community media across the country.
For more information, please see http://www.facebook.com/l/
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