Alberta prison warden says Indigenous programs help inmates

The warden at a women's prison in Alberta says Canadian correctional officials are seeing better outcomes when inmates participate in Indigenous programs – though she acknowledged that Indigenous offenders are overrepresented in solitary confinement and do face racism from correctional officers.

The BC Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada sued the federal government in 2015 over the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons.

They have said the practice increases inmates' suffering and discriminates against Indigenous offenders. The trial began last month in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, and the Attorney-General of Canada opened its case this week.

Brigitte Bouchard, warden at the Edmonton Institution for Women, testified for the federal government Thursday. More than half of the inmates at the Edmonton prison are Indigenous.

Ms. Bouchard said Correctional Service Canada has seen progress when inmates take part in its Indigenous programming, which can include meeting with elders, participating in cultural ceremonies or establishing a traditional healing plan.

"Correctional Service of Canada is trying to implement specific initiatives, interventions, that will actually address from a cultural perspective the needs … of the aboriginal people within corrections," she said.

But in her cross-examination, Alison Latimer, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, highlighted the disadvantages Indigenous offenders face.

Ms. Latimer opened her cross-examination by asking Ms. Bouchard if Indigenous people face racism from correctional officers. Ms. Bouchard, after a pause, said yes. Ms. Latimer then took the court through a report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the ombudsman for federal offenders.

The 2015-16 annual report noted there had been an increase in the number of Indigenous people behind bars, and Indigenous women made up 35 per cent of the population in women's federal prisons. Indigenous people account for about 4 per cent of the Canadian population.

The report went on to say Indigenous inmates were held for longer and at higher security levels than non-Indigenous inmates.

Ms. Bouchard did not dispute the findings of the report.

The court last month heard from BobbyLee Worm, a woman who spent more than 1,100 days in solitary confinement – including one near-continuous stretch lasting more than two years. Ms. Worm said Indigenous prisoners were treated worse than non-Indigenous inmates and given harsher punishments.

Amanda Lepine also testified in the case last month and told the court she was placed in segregation at Edmonton Institution for Women in January, 2017, for allegedly assaulting another inmate. She denied she had done so but spent 26 days in solitary nonetheless and saw her classification raised from medium security to maximum security until she successfully filed a grievance. She was eventually transferred to a B.C. prison.

Ms. Bouchard, when asked about Ms. Lepine's case specifically, said she has 171 inmates at her prison and had to consider the safety of all of them.

Ms. Bouchard said the correctional service is working to "address systemic barriers within the criminal-justice system" and factors "aboriginal social history" into its decisions.

Ms. Latimer challenged that point. She noted the Office of the Correctional Investigator has said there is little evidence systemic factors have been properly considered in the correctional service's decisions.

Ms. Bouchard said she has advised her staff all pertinent information must be written down. She agreed there was little reference to systemic factors in Ms. Lepine's case.

Ms. Bouchard also agreed more training is needed for correctional staff when it comes to the factors that should be considered for Indigenous offenders.

The trial is in its fifth week and is expected to run for about nine.

The Globe and Mail has reported extensively on the prevalence and effects of solitary confinement, beginning with a 2014 investigation into the death by suicide of Edward Snowshoe in an Edmonton prison after 162 days in solitary.