SQLFusion - A Canadian Whistelblower\'s home away from home

A Canadian Whistleblower’s

home away from home

A special kind of institutional response and thank you to Perry for doing his duty – morally and legally - to protect children from sexual predators

Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre

Perry will serve a six month sentence for civil contempt at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre. After the six months he must reappear at the Toronto Divisional Court to be sentenced for the second contempt conviction, criminal contempt, the more serious one of the two contempt convictions.

The six month incarceration is, according to Attorney General’s lawyer, intended to coerce Perry to testify at the Cornwall Public Inquiry. Perry can "purge" his civil contempt by testifying at the Cornwall Public Inquiry. A purge by testifying would presumably also have a positive impact on his second sentence.

Perry has not, to my knowledge, been given time served (18 days at time of sentencing which would translate to 36 days.)

(A note of disgusting interest. Cornwall paedophile James Lewis was sentenced to 6 months – for molesting Jamie Marsolais!!!. Lewis was out and about in 118 days!)The Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre was in the news four years ago re inhumane condions for inmates. Let’s pray that things have improved.

Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre

2244 Innes Road
Ottawa ON
K1B 4C4

Tel: Tel: (613) 824-6080

Inhuman conditions at Ottawa jail denounced by judge

Ottawa Detention Centre brings
'administration of justice into disrepute'02 September 2004(National Union of Public and General Employees websitehttp://www.nupge.ca/news_2004/n02se04b.htm)Ottawa - Ontario Justice Denis Power says overcrowding and staff shortages at the Ottawa Regional Detention Centre are so appalling that they bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The Superior Court judge made the comments when sentencing a man who had already spent 10 months in the East End facility, located a few miles from Parliament Hill. Instead of the two-for-one credit normally given by the court for time already served, Power found conditions so appalling he gave the inmate credit at a three-for-one rate.

Testimony from jail employees, who are members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE), played a critical role in the judge's decision. The case at issue involved Roger Levesque, 35, who had been convicted of domestic abuse.

Housed like animals

The court heard that:

• Cells meant to house two inmates were being used to house three or more, with new inmates sleeping on floor mattresses until a bunk becomes available.
• The inmate who appeared before Power was denied a cane (deemed to be a potential weapon). Because he required the cane for support, he was forced to rely on help from other inmates to move around.
• The inmate's mobility was so compromised that jail officials eventually transferred him to the facility's hospital (against his wishes) because they feared he might be hurt, and the institution would be liable.
• Inmates are often denied daily exercise in the yard because the facility has too few guards to supervise them.
• The inmate in question was housed at one point with a paraplegic in a cell with only one bed - requiring that one of them sleep on a mattress on the floor.
• The inmate was also forced to eat all meals in his cell, and was issued clean clothes infrequently.
• Bed sheets were not changed for lengthy periods of time and showers were limited to twice a week.

Minister no help

Judge Power said conditions were so bad that it brought "the administration of justice into disrepute."

Liberal Justice Minister Monte Kwinter visited the facility in May. Since then, an expansion program has been under way and steps have been taken to address complaints, officials say.

Guards who work in the facility say conditions are much the same now as it was before the minister's visit.

The air in the facility often reeks; too few guards are sometimes on duty to permit daily outings in the yard; there are virtually no activities available to prisoners and family visits are often cancelled at the last minute - sometimes leaving them in tears at the prison gate.

Kwinter's visit to the facility in May 2004 followed a threat by OPSEU to take job action over the conditions within the facility.

The centre houses prisoners awaiting processing for all offenses. Included are those charged with offences of two years or longer and those waiting to be tried on (or serving time for) sentences of two years less a day. The facility has minimum and maximum security wings, and also facilities designated for women and young offenders.

Overcrowding at the jail worsened after the closure of a series of smaller Ontario jails by the former Mike Harris Conservative government. (NUPGE)

More information:
• Correctional officers demand improvements at Ottawa facility

Web posted by NUPGE: 2 September 2004

Ontario judge opens hearing into inhuman Ottawa jail

Charter rights violations alleged at
Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre04 September 2004National Union of Public and General Employees website

Ottawa - An Ontario Superior Court judge is hearing a unique case examining human rights and legal abuses of inmates at the badly-overcrowded Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre.

Conditions are so bad that judges in some cases have credited prisoners with up to three days time served for each day they are incarcerated at the jail.

When the case began this week, Judge Gerald Morin rejected objections from the Ontario corrections ministry that the case has been politicized because subpoenas have been issued requiring Corrections Minister Monte Kwinter and Deputy Minister John Rebeau to appear in court during the case.

The judge has also given the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa the right to seek court orders halting alleged human rights abuses of inmates at the jail, located on Innis Road in the east end of the Ottawa.

The association includes about 100 Ottawa lawyers, who represent most of the inmates being held at the jail. The organization is being represented in court by its president, Lawrence Greenspon.

Meanwhile, the association has been granted intervenor status in the case of Wahab Dadshani, an accused murderer who is alleging cruel treatment at the jail.

Dadshani is represented by lawyer Susan Mulligan, who told the judge that politicians should be held to account for the conditions at the jail.

Filth and insects

Inmates are being denied adequate access to counsel, exercise, showers, clean clothing and in some cases beds, she said, adding that her client had spent time in a cell infested with insects.

Mulligan said several rights guaranteed to all citizens by the Charter have been violated at Innis Road, including the right to counsel and freedom from cruel treatment and arbitrary detention.

Morin has said any remedies he orders in the case will apply to all inmates, not only Dadshani.

In rejecting the objections raised by provincial corrections officials, the judge said he is confident he can prevent his court from becoming "a political arena" during the case. Formal arguments in the case are not expected to begin until sometime in the new year.

Overcrowding at the detention centre has become acute since the closure by the former Mike Harris-Ernie Eves Conservative government of a series of smaller local jails - the Cornwall jail in November 2002, the Burritt's Rapids institution in January 2004 and the Pembroke jail in April 2004.

Cells meant to house a maximum of two inmates are often being used to house three or four inmates at a time by placing extra mattresses on the floor. NUPGE