In 2023 the CPLA filed access to information requests to obtain the strip search policies of all the provincial and territorial correctional systems. We have decided to post the policies so they can be used in advocacy and research: Alberta: Body Orifice Security Scanner Chair; Strip search Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland Nova Scotia Nunavut Northwest Territories: Policy 1; Policy 2 Ontario PEI: Adult; Youth Saskatchewan Yukon: Policy 1; Policy 2 ..read more

In April 2023, the CPLA provided submissions to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs expressing its support for Bill S-230. This bill was sponsored by Senator Kim Pate, former Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and a renowned prisoners’ rights advocate. This bill responds to several pressing problems in the federal correctional system, including overreliance on segregation, lack of support for prisoners with mental health conditions, overincarceration of people from marginalized populations, and lack of meaningful ju ..read more

In response to incidents involving individuals accused of committing violent offences while on bail, there were calls to reform the bail system. In February 2023, the CPLA appeared before Ontario’s Standing Committee on Justice Policy, which was conducting a study of the bail system. Then in March 2023, the CPLA provided submissions to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The CPLA’s submissions highlighted how restrictive the bail system already is and emphasized the need to protect public safety by providing resources to help stabilize those on bail, rather than l ..read more

In June 2023 the CPLA provided submissions to the federal government urging strong regulatory limits on dry cells and strip searches. Dry celling, an extreme form of solitary confinement, is a cruel and degrading practice. As has been noted by the Correctional Investigator, “[t]he conditions of dry cell confinement are, by far, the most degrading, austere and restrictive imaginable in federal corrections.” Strip searches are also inherently humiliating and degrading, and are particularly traumatic for individuals who have been sexually abused. The submissions, which were also signed by the Can ..read more

CPLA was granted leave to present arguments before the Ontario Court of Appeal in Dorsey v Canada, a case concerning the scope of the writ of habeas corpus. As was pointed out in the CPLA’s factum, the writ of habeas corpus is one of the only tools federal prisoners can use to protect and uphold their statutory and constitutionally protected liberty interests. Transfer and placement decisions within federal prisons have an enormous impact on the day-to-day lives and release prospects of all federal prisoners. When their protected interests become vulnerable to disregard by penal authoriti ..read more

In 2022 the CPLA appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene in R v Bissonnette, a case that addressed the constitutionality of section 745.41 of the Criminal Code, which permitted people to be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 50 years, 75 years, or longer. CPLA argued that the section constituted cruel and unusual punishment and was fundamentally irreconcilable with the purposes of the correctional and parole system – rehabilitation and reintegration. You can read CPLA’s full written submissions here ..read more

  Canadian Prison News Toronto van attacker sentenced to life in prison, no possibility of parole for 25 years – CBC CBC Adam Carter · CBC News · Posted: Jun 13,2022 6:24 AM ET | Last Updated: in … In Canada, first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence … Dillon Whitehawk sentenced to life in prison for shooting murders in Regina | CBC News CBC It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges … ‘These lives were precious’: Toronto van ..read more

NEWS Convicted rapist Raymond Burke sentenced to 19 years in prison for 1980s sex assaults CBC Adam Carter · CBC News · Posted: Jun 06, 2022 3:34 PM ET | Last … in prison there, before being paroled and deported back to Canada in 2015. More than two dozen inmates test positive for COVID-19 at B.C. correctional centre CTV News Vancouver The Matsqui Institution, a medium-security federal men’s prison, is seen in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday October 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN … In-person visits suspended at B.C. prison after COVID ..read more

Veteran prison law lawyer John Conroy has been awarded a life membership in the Canadian Prison Law Association.  John has argued a number of leading cases in the field, and this award is not just a recognition of these achievements but, in a sense, is also a gift to the younger members of the Association, who stand to benefit from his wisdom and experience.  Congratulations John ..read more

Coronavirus: Prisoner, human rights groups file lawsuit over federal inmates’ safety ..read more