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TORONTO, Ontario — In a newly released report entitled, “Administrative Segregation in Federal Corrections: 10 Year Trends”, the Office of the Correctional Investigator has once again exposed the deep currents of anti-Black racism in Canada’s federal prison system.
The report reveals that since March 31, 2005:
- The population of African Canadians in federal prisons has increased by 77.5%, whereas the Caucasian population decreased 6.8%.
- The number of segregation admissions for African Canadian inmates has increased by 100.4%.
- African Canadian offenders who were admitted to segregation in 2013-2014 were less likely than Caucasians to have a history of self-injury (6.5% compared to 13.8%).
“These new findings confirm that there is a crisis in corrections when it comes to African Canadian inmates,” said Margaret Parsons, Executive Director of the African Canadian Legal Clinic (ACLC).
“It is time for the federal government to take decisive action in responding to this crisis, by adopting a comprehensive action plan for reducing the over-representation of African Canadians in prisons and rates of segregation admissions,” Parsons continued.
In the coming weeks, the ACLC plans to meet with the Office of the Correctional Investigator to discuss these new findings.
Towards the end of developing a comprehensive policy framework for addressing the over-incarceration and treatment of African Canadian inmates, the ACLC is calling for an urgent meeting with the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Mr. Don Head, Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada.
“This situation is untenable and calls for an immediate response and urgent action from senior officials in federal corrections,” said Anthony Morgan, Policy and Research Lawyer at the ACLC.
