Where is Sylvia Jones?
Calling on Sylvia Jones to Speak Up, Take Action or Step Down!
Please scroll down to contact the Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, Premier Doug Ford, your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), Toronto Public Health, the Ombudsmen and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
As the general community is starting to reopen and lessen COVID restrictions, our Ontario jails and prisons continue to be overrun by COVID outbreaks. COVID outbreaks inside these institutions have spiked to the highest numbers we have seen since the onset of the pandemic. This is unacceptable and poses not only a health and safety risk to those inside, but to the general public outside as well.
Since the start of the pandemic, 4,004 imprisoned people and 1,115 correctional staff have contracted the COVID-19 virus in Ontario jails. On January 12th, 2022, it was reported that 1,961 prisoners were in medical isolation. Over the last three weeks there have been no further reported numbers, leaving those on the outside in the dark. According to the Solicitor General, people inside are being put in medical isolation if they have or are suspected to have COVID-19. We have heard from community members that medical isolation is no different from solitary confinement: 23-hours in cells, no ability to shower, and no way to contact loved ones or connect with lawyers.
As such, recent numbers tell us that almost 2,000 people in Ontario provincial prisons either have or likely have COVID and are being forced to live in inhumane, solitary confinement-like conditions. We have also seen constant data mismanagement and undercounting by the Ontario government, which leads us to believe that these numbers grossly under-represent the state of COVID-19 in provincial prisons. It is deplorable that there is no reliable public information about COVID-19 testing and positive diagnoses in Ontario jails. This information is vital for the health of all Ontarians, especially Indigenous and Black communities who are targeted by police and overrepresented in our carceral systems.
Community members who have been imprisoned during the pandemic report many incidents of being confined with other people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, they report the liberal use of medical isolations as a punitive form of segregation and confinement, and the inability to get tested or to receive basic PPE such as masks and hand sanitizer. We have also heard many instances of people being disciplined for wearing masks or for creating their own masks for fear of contracting COVID-19.
As the Solicitor General, Sylvia Jones is directly responsible for the outbreaks that persist within Ontario jails and prisons. It is her responsibility as the Solicitor General to ensure that prisoners are safe and to protect their human rights. Yet she has been SILENT on all the issues that are happening within our Ontario jails. Sylvia Jones needs to be held accountable for her inaction and her blatant disregard of prisoner health and safety. Rather than implementing recommendations from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Ontario Ombudsman, and honouring the calls from prisoners, their loved ones, service providers and supporters for immediate action, Sylvia Jones and the Ontario government have continued to ignore the crisis inside. We are demanding Sylvia Jones to SPEAK UP, TAKE ACTION, or STEP DOWN!!!
Please send a message using the email tool below and scroll down for more background on some of the key issues inside.
KEY ISSUES:
Overcrowding:
Overcrowding makes battling large COVID outbreaks next to impossible. As a result, outbreaks are running rampant in both provincial and federal institutions across Ontario. Recent reports highlight that the number of adult jails in active outbreaks are 15 out of 25 and nearly 30 percent of Ontario prisoners are in medical isolation.
The Ministry has reported that the following jails are experiencing outbreaks: Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre, Central East Correctional Centre, Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre, St.Lawrence Valley, Kenora Jail, Maplehurst Correctional Complex, Niagara Detention Centre, North Bay Jail, Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, Sudbury Jail, Sarnia Jail, Thunder Bay Jail and Correctional Centre, Toronto East Detention Centre, and the Toronto South Detention Centre. We believe that this list is likely incomplete because we have heard numerous reports that other jails are experiencing outbreak conditions.
There is no opportunity for prisoners to socially distance or protect themselves from contracting the virus as prisoners in provincial jails report being crowded 3 to 4 people in a two-person cell without masks, hot water, soap, or other resources for proper hygiene, including not being allowed to shower for as long as up to 9-10 days due to lockdowns and staff shortages.
Transferring of prisoners used to control outbreaks:
In a poor attempt to manage these outbreaks and reduce the number of cases in an institution, prisoners have been transferred from institution to institution. In some cases facilities were closed down completely and their entire prisoner population moved to contaminate another facility. The popular practice of transferring prisoners to different institutions across the province to control outbreaks has been the cause of some of our biggest outbreaks within the carceral system. The Solicitor General alongside the Superintendents of each institution have deliberately increased the risk of prisoners contracting the virus and inserting COVID-19 into institutions that had not been infected. These transfers and COVID outbreak protocols further isolate prisoners from community and legal connections.
Social Isolation:
Throughout the pandemic, prisoners have been isolated from their loved ones and lawyers, and restricted from programs, visitations, as well their basic needs such as showers, fresh air and commissary under the guise of controlling outbreaks. However, two years into the pandemic there are more outbreaks than ever. The law stipulates that in Canada prisoners cannot be placed in solitary confinement for more than 15 days. Solitary confinement refers to the practice of confining a prisoner to a cell and depriving them of meaningful human contact for 22 hours a day or more. However, prisoners continue to report having been held 4 to 5 months in segregation. Institutions continue to isolate people by using lockdowns, droplet precautions, "restrictive movement routines," and segregating people in solitary confinement and other punitive reactionary measures as a way to control the spread of the virus.
Lack of social connection, cognitive stimulation and exercise has resulted in an increase in mental health issues and violence in response to the trauma they have had to endure. People are taking pleas in a desperate attempt to get out of these inhumane conditions instead of accessing their fundamental right to a fair trial. Also, lack of programming results in prisoners not being given the opportunity to shorten their incarceration by meeting the requirements of parole hearings.
COVID-19 has also delayed criminal trials across Canada, which contradicts the provision set out by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that states all individuals have the right to go to trial within a reasonable time frame. This has left people languishing on remand with no end to their incarceration in sight.
With limited to no access to phone calls and visitations in many institutions cancelled for months, prisoners have been disconnected from their support networks. Families have been distraught with worry not knowing if their loved ones are safe and concerned for their emotional well-being. This has also had a ripple effect on the emotional well-being of families and children of those who are incarcerated. An inability to access phones also makes it incredibly difficult for prisoners to connect with their lawyers to discuss their case or to apply for bail. Lack of visitations and phone access also impacts discharge and reintegration planning, as prisoners have no way of connecting to community support pre-release.
Limited Access to Healthcare:
Prisoners in Ontario are subjected to limited healthcare services which are overseen and implemented by the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Corporate Health Care Correctional Branch. Reports from prisoners deem this care inadequate, minimal and slow-moving in comparison to the healthcare provided to those on the outside by the Ministry of Health. Due to the limited access to appropriate health care services and punitive responses, prisoners are afraid to seek medical attention or consent to COVID-19 testing, for fear they will be sent to segregation. Prisoners should not have to make a choice between their physical health and their mental well-being.