The catastrophic situation of Canada's prison system

The Canadian Senate Human Rights Committee recently revealed in a report that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government and his government officials are ignoring the committee's recommendations regarding the grave situation of human rights violations in prisons, which is one of the country's hotspots for human rights abuses.

The Canadian Senate Human Rights Committee has called for a meaningful response from the Canadian government to many of the discriminatory practices it identified after a five-year study since the publication of its report in June 2021. Section 12-23(1) of the Senate Rules permits this House to request a complete and detailed response from the government, and the government must respond to this request within 150 days.

The Senate's ongoing efforts and fact-finding missions to prisons across Canada resulted in the June 2021 report. The investigation began in 2016 and drew on the testimony of over 150 people. The final report made 71 recommendations aimed at preventing the continuation of abusive and discriminatory practices that dehumanize prisoners and make it difficult for them to rehabilitate and reintegrate into society.

 The review found that, in addition to the general disregard for the 71 recommendations by the Canadian federal government, at least 18 of them have not been addressed.

Human rights advocates and critics maintain that racism and the breakdown of ineffective systems are both contributing factors to what is occurring inside Canadian prisons. The enduring and increasing overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canadian prisons is the most obvious proof of this. Despite making up only 5% of Canada's total population, Indigenous people accounted for over 31% of the country's prison population in 2022.

In addition to sentencing, discrimination is pervasive in Canadian prisons; Indigenous people are more likely to be housed in high-security facilities and have a significantly lower chance of being released on bail.

The high rate of inmate deaths in Canada is another concerning issue that requires attention. The number of deaths in Canadian prisons has increased recently. In Canada, the most common causes of death for inmates are suicide, overdoses, medical errors, and requests for assisted suicide.

More than 1,532 people have died in Canadian prisons since 2000. 669 of these were incarcerated in Ontario. Inmates who have passed away in Canadian jails are typically 44.5 years old. According to this statistic, a large number of deaths in Canadian jails are brought on by the conditions of incarceration.

There is no known cause or explanation for the 34 inmates who have passed away in Canadian provincial detention facilities since 2015. Despite continuous efforts to identify the causes of death in Canada, no progress has been made thus far because the individuals responsible for the deaths have not been charged with a crime.