The Correctional Investigator of Canada, Dr. Ivan Zinger, and the Ontario Child Advocate, Irwin Elman, released a joint report entitled Missed Opportunities: The Experience of Young Adults Incarcerated in Federal Penitentiaries. The report highlights the trajectories of young people in conflict with the law and their experience when they “graduate” from provincial youth to federal adult … Read more
Ivan Zinger, Correctional Investigator, released the following statement on the Special Report to Parliament, Fatal Response: An Investigation into the Preventable Death of Matthew Ryan Hines: “Earlier today, my investigation into the death of Matthew Ryan Hines at Dorchester Penitentiary on May 26, 2015 was tabled as a Special Report in Parliament by the Minister of Public Safety, … Read more
The 43th Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator (2015-16) was tabled before Parliament. The report addresses systemic issues in federal penitentiaries in key areas, and includes a special focus on the use of force and inflammatory agents. Adoption of the report’s recommendations will contribute to public safety by ensuring that inmates are better … Read more
The Correctional Investigator of Canada, Howard Sapers, released his investigation into the extent and manner in which the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) discloses information with family members of an inmate who has died in federal custody. In his report, Sapers documents the frustration of families when information is not fully and openly shared. The … Read more
The 42th Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator (2014-15) was tabled March 10 before Parliament. The report addresses systemic issues in federal penitentiaries in key areas, including implementing outstanding recommendations from the inquest into the death of Ashley Smith, meeting the needs of Indigenous offenders, and introducing limits on the use of … Read more
The Correctional Investigator of Canada, Howard Sapers, issued a statement on the release of the Québec Ombudsman’s Special Report entitled Detention Conditions, Administration of Justice and Crime Prevention in Nunavik: “Today’s report from Quebec is very disturbing,” said Sapers. “It confirms findings made by my Office that detention conditions in Canada’s north often fail to … Read more
The 41st Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was tabled in Parliament. The report contains a special focus on safe and timely community reintegration of federally sentenced offenders. In his report, the Correctional Investigator, Howard Sapers notes that most inmates will be released from prison and that it is up to the … Read more
On World Suicide Prevention Day, the Correctional Investigator of Canada, Howard Sapers, released a report that reviews thirty suicide deaths that occurred in federal penitentiaries in the three year period between April 2011 and March 2014. Suicide is the leading cause of un-natural death in federal prisons, accounting for approximately one-in-five in-custody deaths in any … Read more
Between 2003 and 2013, more than 500 inmates have died in federal penitentiaries. The majority of in custody deaths are by natural cause(s). The investigative report released by the Office of the Correctional Investigator raises significant issues about how the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) meets its legal obligation to investigate the factors and circumstances that … Read more
The 40th Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was tabled in Parliament. The report contains a special focus on ethno-cultural diversity in corrections. In releasing his report, the Correctional Investigator, Howard Sapers, noted that recent inmate population growth is almost exclusively driven by increases in the composition of ethnically and culturally diverse … Read more
