A special from the Smart Justice Network of Canada…
April 13, 2015 – Ottawa Carlton Detention Centre in Chronic Crisis
Criminalization and Punishment Education Project
Tracking the Politics of Criminalization and Punishment in Canada: Aaron Doyle, Associate Professor, Sociology, Carleton University and Laura McKendy, PhD Student,
The Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) has been over crowded for over ten years and there are constant incidents that suggest that the centre is in chronic crisis. One former inmate says, “It’s just an anger factory.” And guards’ union spokesperson Joe Bernard says, “It’s like a powder keg waiting to go off.” Mental health care and even ordinary medical care is derelict. Experts like Doyle and McKendy, and others, have voiced grave concern around the conditions and the treatment of the inmates. OCDC is a prime example of “Ontario’s severely dysfunctional bail and remand system.”
On Wednesday, April 15, at 6:30PM, CPEP is hosting a free public forum at Ottawa City Hall to hear first-hand both what is troubling the Centre and why any sort of permanent resolution of inhumane conditions at the Ottawa Carleton Centre is so elusive. The hosts for the evening say: “We could say conditions at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) are in crisis, but the word ‘crisis’ often means a short-term emergency, and people have been pointing to a crisis at OCDC for decades.” For more information: http://www.tpcp-canada.blogspot.ca/2015/04/upcoming-forum-at-ottawa-city-hall-on.html Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1578032429105655/
Confirmed speakers include former prisoners, the chair of the new Community Advisory Board for OCDC, the executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa, a spokesperson for a group of mothers of OCDC prisoners, and lawyer Paul Champ, who brought a successful case to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal after a woman with cancer and mental health concerns was kept in solitary confinement at OCDC for more than 200 days that has yet to translate into fundamental reforms
For more information, you can contact: Dr. Aaron Doyle from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, aaron.doyle@carleton.ca (cell 613-799-1954) or Laura McKendy, PhD student in Sociology at Carleton University, laura.mckendy@carleton.ca (cell 613-898-1518).
(Ed note: While this forum is focused on the Ottawa area, the community based model used in response to the problems may prove helpful to other communities.)
History behind this forum:
Toronto Star: Amy Dempsey
Ontario broke solitary confinement promise, lawyers say http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/28/ontario-broke-solitary-confinement-promise-lawyers-say.html
Ottawa Metro News – Joe Lofaro
Carleton prof to put pressure on province to improve conditions at Ottawa jail http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/872190/carleton-prof-to-put-pressure-on-province-to-improve-conditions-at-ottawa-jail/
Jail staff disciplined after baby born in Ottawa detention centre http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/764942/jail-staff-disciplined-after-baby-born-in-ottawa-detention-centre/
References from the Ottawa Citizen:
Jail report recommendations on mentally ill ‘positive and progressive,’ lawyer says http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/jail-report-recommendations-on-mentally-ill-positive-and-progressive-lawyer-says
Province denies abuse in Ottawa jail, alleges prisoners’ lawsuit unfounded http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/province-denies-abuse-in-ottawa-jail-alleges-prisoners-lawsuit-unfounded
For other incidents and problems see the index at: http://ottawacitizen.com/tag/ottawa-carleton-detention-centre