Saskatchewan’s Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge is pictured in this 1998 file photo.Kevin Van Paassen/The Canadian Press
A federal watchdog is urging improved monitoring of correctional institutions after finding that penal staff members at a Saskatchewan healing lodge had a years-long, "well-established" practice of bringing their children to the women's facility, where some inmates were serving sentences for crimes involving children.
In a report tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner revealed that 21 employees at the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge – one-third of the average staffing complement – have taken their children to the facility a total of at least 73 times since 2011. None of the children, who ranged in age from about six months to 17 years, were reported to have been harmed.
"I found that a well-established practice of employees bringing children into the workplace created a specific and substantial danger to their safety and constituted gross mismanagement," Commissioner Joe Friday told reporters Thursday. "The fact that managers participated in the practice and allowed it to continue over several years resulted in a systemic problem."
Mr. Friday said there was no evidence to suggest that Correctional Service Canada's national office was aware of the practice, which may date back as far as 2000. He is now urging CSC to keep a closer eye on what is going on at federally managed facilities such as Maple Creek's healing lodge, a multilevel security institution where inmates live in residential-style housing.
"I recommend that CSC national headquarters establish a means to ensure that it is aware of and actively monitoring local practices in federal penal institutions under its authority," says the report, which notes that of the 39 inmates at the lodge, 11 were, or had been previously, sentenced for crimes involving children. Some were sentenced under the specific condition that they not be near children.
The investigation was launched in March 2015, after a whistle-blower came forward with allegations that two employees at the healing lodge had jeopardized their children's safety by bringing them to the facility and having them supervised by inmates. The scope of the probe was then widened to determine the extent of the problem.
In a statement, CSC Commissioner Don Head said the service "collaborated fully throughout the investigation" and takes the findings "extremely seriously." He said the service has already taken "swift action to correct the issues identified by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (PSIC)."
Mr. Friday told reporters that not only was there no justification for bringing children to the lodge, but the recurring practice also put CSC in a precarious position, "including legal liability, as well as creating a risk to their reputation and to public confidence in federal correctional institutions."
The office's nine-page report contains a brief response from Mr. Head. In it, he said he would ask his regional deputy commissioners to review local practices, communicate their findings to national staff and make sure applicable policies were being followed. Mr. Head also said the service would specifically review what was taking place at the healing lodge to "ensure the safety of all staff and visitors at the institutions."
As part of the investigation, the federal watchdog reviewed operational intelligence reports that detailed incidents at the lodge, including sexual assault among inmates and the segregation of a woman after a "behavioural event." The reports also cited the presence of drugs, including cocaine and crystal meth, and "makeshift weapons."
"These incidents reveal the reality of the environment at the OOHL, which is not a regular workplace absent of significant inherent dangers," the report says.
Mr. Friday said his office did not recommend that specific staff members lose their jobs or face disciplinary measures, explaining that the practice was so "systemic" it would have been "almost impossible to identify particular people who were responsible."
Mr. Head said in his statement that employees are expected to abide by legal and ethical standards, and are subject to rules of professional conduct. "Any behaviour that does not meet these standards can be subject to disciplinary measures," he said. "I want to emphasize that CSC will continue to work collaboratively with the Office of the PSIC on this matter, and will take any further corrective actions that are required."
Mr. Friday said he is committed to following up with the correctional service to ensure the recommendations are respected.