Yasser Ahmed Albaz, a 51-year-old engineer from Oakville, Ontario was arrested in Cairo in February but after ten months in prison the reason for his arrest is still unknown. Albaz, who has dual Egyptian and Canadian nationality was travelling on… »
Highlights / prison
Drug needles for prisons: legal challenge
Challenge wants government to provide clean needles for addicts Both the law and the theory hold that drugs are illegal and not allowed in prison. In practice it’s a different story, and because of a scarcity of syringes in prison… »
Prison guards’ union demands protection from fentanyl
On May 24, 2019, two prison guards were affected by the potent opioid fentanyl when dealing with three inmates in apparent distress at jail in the province of Ontario. The guards felt unwell and were successfully treated in hospital. The… »
Study reveals high rates of Indigenous Canadians in prison is a real health crisis
Indigenous people are incarcerated at much higher rate than the rest of the population in Canada, that is a fact. But a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) by researchers from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the… »
Canada fined millions for keeping mentally ill inmates in solitary
A court has ruled Canada’s penitentiary service will have to pay tens of millions of dollars for holding inmates it knew were mentally ill in solitary confinement. In what the service calls administrative segregation, inmates are isolated in very small… »
Drug addicts in prison to get clean needles
Two federal prison institutions in Canada will begin a needle exchange programme for drug users. While diabetics in prison have had access to needles for diabetic inmates needing insulin, and for others needing EpiPens, this is the first time needles… »
Federal government to appeal ruling against solitary confinement
Just a month after a British Columbia judge ruled that indefinite solitary confinement in prisons was unconstitutional, the federal government is appealing the ruling. In his ruling the B.C. Supreme Court judge said that such confinement “places all Canadian federal… »
Prison: Judge rules solitary confinement unconstitutional
A judge in the west coast province of British Columbia has made a landmark decision regarding prolonged solitary confinement in federal prisons. The judge ruled that the practice, also known as “administrative segregation”, contravenes aspects of the Canadian Charter of… »
Uncategorized
Non-fiction: 30 years as a prison guard
“Down Inside”: A career in Canada’s federal prisons Suicides, violent beatings, horrific murders, guards who cared, guards who didn’t, bureaucratic indifference, political meddling, Robert Clark saw all of that and much more. Robet Clarks intimate look at his long career… »
Solitary confinement struck down as unconstitutional
A long legal effort to change rules on solitary confinement of prisoners has won a substantial victory. The non-profit civil liberties and constitutional rights organisation, The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has been fighting the battle to end the practice… »
Black History
Life in the time of COVID-19
