COVID-19 Information

Given the abundance of information circulating about COVID-19 generally, SLSC has created this page to compile news, information, resources, and actions related specifically to the Canadian criminal justice system (federal and provincial) and the people affected by it. We have also included a few ‘bonus’ links that relate to individual well-being.

We hope that this information will be of interest/useful to our membership and stakeholders. This page will updated on a regular basis and newly added links will be indicated with *NEW* next to it. If you have any recommended additions, please email: danielle@stleonards.ca.

Please note: featuring the information below does not imply endorsement. 

News & Information:

British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

• (11/06/20) COVID-19 and Conditional Releases from Federal Prisons

Canadian Bar Association:

• (21/04/20) How far should our system of justice go in freeing our inmates in light of COVID-19?

CBC News

• *NEW* (08/08/20) Inmates say they’re not safe from COVID-19 at Edmonton Remand Centre

• (04/08/20) As courts prepare to restart jury trials, advocates call for fair pay for jurors

• (17/07/20) COVID-19 taking a toll in prisons, with high infection rates, CBC News analysis shows

• (19/06/20) Watchdog urges prisons to ease COVID-19 restrictions as caseload drops to 1

• (22/04/20) Prisons watchdog in the dark on inmate early release plan to limit spread of COVID-19

• (22/04/20) Crime data during COVID-19 shows spike in business break-ins, stunt driving

• (17/04/20) Sask. judge releases 69-year-old from jail over fears of COVID-19

• (09/04/20) More than 2,000 inmates released, 6 COVID-19 cases confirmed inside Ontario jails

• (18/03/20) Suspending prison visits over COVID-19 sparks fears of inmate backlash

CMAJ Blogs

• (09/04/20) Release from Incarceration During The Concurrent COVID-19 and Opioid Use Crises

Coast Mountain News

• (21/04/20) Released inmate tests positive for COVID-19, exposes Tl’etinqox First Nations community to virus

The Conversation

• (27/04/20) People freed from prison during coronavirus may face big risks on the outside

• (21/04/20) Coronavirus in prisons: How and why to release inmates in a pandemic

• (23/04/20) Ontario’s Safe Streets Act will cost lives amid the coronavirus pandemic

Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)

• (Updated regularly) Inmate COVID-19 testing in federal correctional institutions (stats from CSC on testing and cases in federal institutions)

• (Updated regularly) Correctional Service of Canada Homepage (updates about the federal correctional system in Canada)

CTV News

• (13/05/20) Prisoner suing Ottawa over safety of inmates during COVID-19 pandemic

• (21/04/20) Federal inmate in Quebec seeks class-action alleging mishandling of COVID-19 crisis in prisons

The Daily

• *NEW* (12/08/20) Changes in federal, provincial and territorial custodial populations during the COVID-19 pandemic, April 2019 to April 2020

• (09/06/20) Canadians’ perceptions of personal safety since COVID-19

Department of Justice Canada

• (26/05/20) Action Committee on Court Operations in Response to COVID-19 Approves Initial Guidance Documents (News Release)

Global News

• *NEW* (08/08/20) Coronavirus outbreaks declared over in federal prisons, staff prepare for ‘new normal’

• (21/04/20) Coronavirus: Quebec federal inmates file application for class-action lawsuit

The Globe and Mail

• (17/07/20) Participating in Ontario’s first Zoom trial showed me its value for our overburdened justice system

• (21/04/20) A pandemic in prisons forces a rethink of why so many are behind bars

• (16/04/20) Correctional Service Canada releases first federal inmate owing to medical vulnerability to COVID-19

• (15/04/20) Emergency hearing for federal inmate deemed vulnerable to COVID-19 could lead to further releases

Government of Ontario:

• (Updated regularly) COVID-19 testing of inmates in Ontario’s Provincial Correctional Institutions

The Hamilton Spectator

• (13/05/20) Releasing elderly inmates en masse in Canada is misguided

The Hill

• (18/04/20) Importance of ongoing contact for prisoners

Human Rights Watch

• (27/05/20) Covid-19 Prisoner Releases Too Few, Too Slow

Law Times

• (27/05/20) Consent needed for remote or socially-distanced in-person trial, says CLA

The Lawyer’s Daily

• *NEW* (13/08/20) Call for transparency in Alberta correctional system

• (21/05/20) How COVID-19 helped Ontario’s court system

• (19/05/20) Legal groups file Charter challenge against government to protect federal inmates

• (15/05/20) Bail, sentencing impacted as jail could be ‘death sentence’ during pandemic, lawyer says
  

• (12/05/20) Access to Justice: Visionary thinking to update a legacy system | Beverley McLachlin

• (07/05/20) Federal judge rejects DOJ foot-dragging; expedites inmate’s ‘urgent’ plea for parole due to COVID-19

• (07/05/20) Federal judge rejects DOJ foot-dragging; expedites inmate’s ‘urgent’ plea for parole due to COVID-19

• (04/05/20) Ontario Court of Justice won’t hold trials, preliminary inquiries till July 6 ‘at the earliest’

• (28/04/20) Courts must continue modernization after COVID-19, Ontario judges say

La Presse

• (22/04/20) Prisons: Québec manque de transparence, déplore la Ligue des droits et libertés

The London Free Press

• (07/07/20) Coalition pushes Ontario for information on coronavirus in jails

medRxiv

• (08/05/20) Testing lags and emerging COVID-19 outbreaks in federal penitentiaries in Canada

The National

• (15/06/20) Charter protections in pandemic times

National Post

• (20/04/20) John Ivison: Prisoners are sitting ducks as Ottawa lets COVID-19 sweep through Canadian jails

• (09/04/20) COVID-19 Canada: Lawyers, advocates want prisoners released before coronavirus spreads

Office of the Correctional Investigator:

• (19/06/20) Office of the Correctional Investigator: COVID 19 Second Update

• (19/06/20) Bureau de l’enquêteur correctionnel : deuxième mise à jour concernant la COVID 19

• (23/04/20) Office of the Correctional Investigator: COVID-19 Status Update

• (23/04/20) Bureau de l’enquêteur correctionnel: Mise à jour concernant la COVID-19

Ottawa Citizen

• (17/04/20) Pandemic ‘one crisis too many’ for those with opioid addiction

Parole Board of Canada

• (Updated regularly) COVID-19 and the Parole Board of Canada

Policy Options

• (13/05/20) COVID has proven Canada can cure homelessness

• (23/04/20) Prisoners’ death toll will mount without releasing the most vulnerable

• (20/04/20) We must decarcerate across the country, then fix the prison system 

Statistics Canada

• (30/07/20) The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on Canadian victim services

The Toronto Star

• (05/08/20) Remember the chatter about releasing inmates early to ease spread of COVID-19? It didn’t happen

• (20/04/20) Out of prison, but then where? Canada’s halfway houses brace for COVID-19 releases with fewer beds and uncertainty (features interviews with SLSC’s Executive Director Anita Desai, and The St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton’s Executive Director Ryan Johnson)

University of Toronto

• (23/04/20) Why isn’t the Trudeau government doing something about the fact that women prisoners are
  disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Canada’s penitentiaries?

• (22/04/20) Decreasing Penitentiary Populations in a Safe and Acceptable Manner

Vancouver Sun

• (11/05/20) Adelina Iftene, Kim Pate, Debra Parkes: Solitary confinement and the Supreme Court: Missed opportunities

Voices Inside Out (Podcast)

• (31/03/20) Commentary: COVID-19 in Port Cartier Federal Prison

Vice

• (01/05/20) The Government Said It’s Releasing Many Inmates to Combat COVID-19. It’s Not – The numbers provided by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair just don’t add up.

• (27/04/20) Inmates With Coronavirus Are Being Thrown Into ‘Extremely Difficult’ Confinement: Prison Watchdog

• (24/04/20) Tear Gas Launcher Deployed as Coronavirus Tensions Spiral in Canadian Prisons

The Whig-Standard 

• (26/06/20) Two CSC staff members test positive for COVID-19

Woodstock Sentinel Review

•  (04/08/20) Legal aid clinics beg for federal help after pandemic hits major funding source

World Health Organization

• (15/05/20) UNODC, WHO, UNAIDS and OHCHR joint statement on COVID-19 in prisons and other closed settings

 

Resources:

Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

• COVID-19 Harm Reduction Resources

Canadian Red Cross

• Joint statement – Canadian Red Cross, Community Foundations of Canada, United Way Canada

CNN

• Helping children of incarcerated parents (Video)

Community Foundations of Canada

• Responding to COVID-19

Fundica

• COVID-19 Funding for Workers Infographic (Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island only)

Government of Canada

• Mental health and COVID-19 for public servants: Supporting employees and teams

Homeless Hub

• Supporting people who use substances in shelter settings during the COVID‑19 pandemic

• Youth Homelessness: Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19

• Queerantine 101: All of your COVID-19 LGBTQI2S Resources in one place!

• Safer Drug Use During the COVID-19 Outbreak

• Lessons Learned From a COVID-19 Outbreak in an Emergency Shelter

• Creating Effective Organizational Harm Reduction Policies & Culture in the Context of COVID 19 Webinar / Question & Answers 

International Corrections & Prisons Association 

• ADAPTING TO COVID-19: Prison Oversight and Monitoring During a Pandemic

John Howard Society of Ontario

• *NEW* Police Record Hub (tool to help people with criminal records find jobs during the pandemic)

Mondaq

• Canada: Ask Our Lawyers: Employment Law And COVID-19 (Video)

Mental Health Commission of Canada

• Free online crisis training for essential workers during COVID-19

Ontario Trillium Foundation

• *NEW* Resilient Communities Fund: one-time fund to support the non-profit sector recover and rebuild from the impacts emerging from COVID-19 so they can effectively meet the needs of communities across Ontario

Public Health 

• COVID-19 Preparedness and Prevention in Congregate Living Settings Checklist

• Social Distancing and Bed Positions for Residential and Congregate Settings

TELUS Friendly Future Foundation

• TELUS commits $10 million for COVID-19 response

• Apply for Funding 

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

• Suggestions about treatment, care and rehabilitation of people with drug use disorder in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

United Way Centraide

• Government of Canada Announces $350M Emergency Community Support Fund

 

Action:

Attend:

•  

Donate:

• COVID-19 Prisoner Emergency Support Fund

Participate:

• Youth Homelessness & COVID-19 FRONT-LINE Survey / Youth Homelessness & COVID-19 MANAGEMENT Survey (Canadian Observatory on Homelessness)

Sign/Send:

• Petition: Recovery for All – Advocating for the end of Homeless for all Canadians as we rebuild after COVID-19 (by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness)

• Letter: to Ontario’s Solicitor General, Minister of Health and Deputy Premier, and the Attorney General of Ontario regarding provincial prisoners’ health during COVID-19 (written by Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network)

• Letter: Don’t Kill, Bill: Release Federal Prisoners to the Extent Possible (written by CPEP)

• Letter: COVID-19 Prevention for Prisoners (written by CPEP)

• Letter: Contain COVID, Not People: No One is Disposable (written by CPEP)

• Letter: Give Ontario Prisoners Access to Free Phone Calls (written by CPEP)

• Letter: Release Prisoners to Protect Public Health: Open Letter from Medical Professionals to Canadian Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments (only for medical professionals)

• Petition: Prisons are Becoming a Death Sentence Due to COVID-19:Letter to Minister of Public Safety (change.org)

 

Well-being:

• Managing Coronavirus anxiety

• 5 ways to help children cope during a pandemic.

• A list of free, online, boredom-busting resources

• 57 Positive News Stories You May Have Missed During the Coronavirus Outbreak

• PLEA Community Services Society of BC YouTube Channel

• Some Good News YouTube Channel 

• Canadian Families and Corrections Network: Resources for Children

• The Working Mind COVID-19 Self-care & Resilience Guide

• Self-isolation advice from Chris Hadfield

• Mental health and COVID-19 for public servants: Protect your mental health