Vaughan Barrett is a human rights advocate who has held a wide range of managerial positions in prison law related agencies and provided numerous university lectures and presentations at international conferences and seminars on various aspects of prison law and international human rights. In an exclusive interview with Preshti, Mr. Barrett discusses the Canadian Prison System and its similarities to the Indian Prison system, his experiences working with the system and the possible ways in which the modern day correctional systems could be improved. 

P: Hello Mr. Barrett . Please tell us something about yourself.

VB:  I was born in Ottawa, Ontario and after finishing my undergraduate studies at the University of Calgary, Alberta I worked for a number of years in diverse professions before returning to university and pursuing legal studies. I graduated with a degree in law from the University of Victoria in 1987 and was called to the bar as a lawyer in British Columbia in 1988.  For the next twenty years I focused my law practice in human rights issues, primarily in prison law and since 2008 I have operated in a consulting capacity specializing in prison law, international human rights and complaints handling.

P: Please give us an insight into your work so far? What inspired you to take it up?

VB : In early 1990 I was offered a position as the director of the Victoria Prison Project and I held that position until late 1997. The Project was sponsored by the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria and my tasks included providing advice and legal assistance to indigent prisoners on Vancouver Island and ensuring that all prisoner-related decisions complied with the duty of fairness.  As Director, I was responsible for all aspects of the Project’s management there.From 1997 until 2003 I managed my own law firm specializing in prison law, human rights and immigration and appeared as counsel at over two hundred hearings including Human Rights tribunals, Immigration hearings, parole hearings, all levels of British Columbia courts (Provincial, Supreme and Appeal) and Canadian Federal Courts (Trial and Appellate Divisions). In 2003 I accepted a five year appointment as the Complaints Commissioner for the Scottish Prison Complaints Commission.I have been a speaker on prisoner issues and ombudsman’s functions at a number of international forums including conferences and seminars in Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Cambridge University,  Manchester, Paris, Vancouver and Bangkok. I have served as the president of the Vancouver Island Criminal Justice Association and as an adjudicator with the Privacy Commission office for British Columbia and currently serve as the Director of Prison Consultants International and, in that capacity, I have provided expert witness testimony and expert Reports for the Federal Court of Canada on appropriate conditions of release for persons being detained on the basis of terrorist activity allegations.My interests have always been in issues relevant to human rights and my motivation has been to provide assistance to disenfranchised and indigent persons and I cannot think of any group of persons more disenfranchised in society than prisoners.

Vaughen Barrett

 P: What are the basic problems faced by the prisoners in Canada?

VB: The problems that Canadian prisoners face are similar to  those faced by prisoners in India. Specifically, difficulties in maintaining contact with family and friends ,accessing professional health care,being protected from violence, ensuring their dietary needs are met and addressing personal behavioral  issues. The circumstances, conditions and decision making in Canadian prisons often make it difficult for prisoners to address these fundamental needs. For instance, as of March 31, 2013, the national double bunking rate in Canada (the practice of confining two inmates in a cell designed for one) was more than 20%. Correlations have been drawn between double bunking and increases in serious institutional incidents.  It has been noted that when large groups of inmates are forced to live together in minimal space they begin to fight over such things as washrooms, televisions, phones, food, recreational areas and equipment. Higher rates of aggression, violence, injury from others and self-injurious behaviors are likely. Inmates generally deal with this type of anxiety by withdrawing from programming and vocational activities which greatly diminishes their chance of completing correctional plans that were developed to assist in their rehabilitation. Institutional overcrowding and lack of institutional employment also leads to increased conflict and security incidents.

Cost-saving and revenue-generating measures announced by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in 2012-13 (to conform with the Deficit Reduction Action Plan which I discuss in the next section) will result in charging more for inmate telephone calls, an increase in room and board deductions, elimination of incentive pay for work in prison industries, cancellation of inmate social events (which help bridge the gap between prison and the outside world) and the closing of or reduced access to some inmate libraries. The country’s size and the remoteness of some of its prisons and penitentiaries often makes it difficult for prisoners to access professional health care. In particular,mental health services and acute or complex care has been described by analysts as fragmented and variable.

Canada’s vast geographic area also makes it difficult and often impossible for prisoners to maintain close contact with family members and friends during their incarceration. This factor often exacerbates a prisoner’s feelings of powerlessness, isolation and embitterment, sentiments which are counterproductive to correctional programming and reintegration purposes. Prisoners continue to complain that they are not provided with meaningful prison work and vocation skills training in order to better prepare them for safe and successful release into the community.

P: What are the fundamental obstacles faced by the prison administration in your country?

VB: In Canada, offenders receiving a sentence of two years or more are housed in federal penitentiaries which are managed by the CSC. Prisoners sentenced to less than two years are held in provincial prisons run by provincial correctional authorities. In 2011, the Canadian federal government initiated what is referred to as the Deficit Reduction Action Plan and the CSC was required to contribute to that Plan by reducing its operating costs. By the end of 2014, CSC’s contribution to the Plan will have resulted in a reduction in its operating budget of $295 million. CSC’s planned spending for 2013-14 is $2.6B,which marks a 14% decrease from the previous year. Meanwhile,a massive $637 million construction effort is underway to create 2,700 new or refurbished cells by the end of 2014 which further adds to the Service’s operational and budgetary pressures. In short, budgetary constraints create enormous obstacles for the CSC to initiate changes for improving prisons and prisoner conditions. Additionally ,dramatic changes in the ethnic demographics of Canadian prisoners over the past decade have increased the difficulties in meeting the cultural, linguistic, dietary and religious needs of offenders.  During that period, the incarcerated population grew by close to 2,100 inmates, representing an overall increase of 16.5%, while the Aboriginal (Canadian natives) incarcerated population increased overall by 46.4% and federally sentenced Aboriginal women inmates increased by over 80%.  Visible minority groups (Black, Hispanic, Asian and East Indian) behind bars increased by almost 75% over this period. As a subgroup, black inmates have increased every year, growing by nearly 90% over the last 10 years. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Caucasian inmates actually declined by 3% over this same period.

P: What are the reformative steps taken by the prison administration of your country to improve the prison conditions?

VB:   In 1973, the office of the Correctional Investigator was created by the federal government to carry out Ombudsman like functions.  The office provides a completely independent review of prisoner complaints and makes formal recommendations to the CSC and the federal government for improvements to prison conditions and remedial steps to be taken to ensure that the CSC is open, transparent and fair in their treatment of prisoners. I offer further comment on the significance of this type of independent oversight under section 7. Since 2005, the CSC has invested approximately $90M in new funds to strengthen primary institutional mental health care service delivery, implement mental health screening at admission, train front-line staff in mental health awareness and enhance community partnerships and discharge planning for offenders with mental health disorders. These initiatives were established as part of CSC’s five-point mental health strategy.

 P: What according to you needs to be done to improve prison conditions further in your country?

VB:  In my opinion, it would be of benefit for our federal government to commit a substantial portion of the $637 million set aside for refurbishing existing cells to build smaller prisons.  This would result in a reduction in the number of inmates per institution which would help reduce overcrowding and facilitate better staff and inmate interaction. Further, there is long-standing evidence which suggests that smaller scale institutions are safer, better managed and deliver superior correctional outcomes. It would also be appropriate for CSC to  enhance inmates access to meaningful prison work and vocational skills training opportunities in order to better prepare them for community reintegration.

Secondly, inmates currently held in federal penitentiaries, suffer from acute mental disorders and need to be medically treated in extraneous treatment facilities.   Most of them have been involved in dozens of “use of force” interventions in prisons to prevent or interrupt patterns of repetitive self-harming.  Most have protracted histories of childhood physical, mental and sexual abuse. A few are “low functioning,” more child-like in their responses and emotional development. One is permanently brain injured from repetitive and chronic head-banging against his cell walls.  All have an extensive history and diagnosis of mental illness. These offenders can be disruptive. Their behavior causes significant stress among the staff and their care and management can be extremely expensive. Many have been managed on around the clock suicide watch, mostly in long-term segregation or observation cells largely devoid of stimuli. These mentally ill individuals do not belong in federal penitentiaries and should be transferred to outside treatment facilities as a matter of priority. This would not only result in proper care for these individuals but would improve prison conditions for other prisoners and for prison staff.

P:Anything you would like to say before signing out?

VB : However well prisons are run, the potential for abuse is always present and  prison operating environments can be used to mask unfairness, inequities and even brutality from public view.  In order for any country to ensure that the conditions, circumstances and decisions made within its prisons conform with International treaties and Conventions for the humane and fair treatment of prisoners it is essential that independent oversight bodies, such as a Commission or Ombudsman office, are created and mandated to receive, investigate and evaluate prisoner complaints. There must also be a corresponding, reasonable expectation that remedial changes recommended by that agency will be accepted and adopted by the Ministry responsible for prison management.It is important to keep in mind what many prison law reformers have emphasized:  “We do not send offenders to prison to be punished.  Sending them to prison is the punishment.”   The vast majority of prisoners will be released back into society. We cannot maximize the safety of our communities without devoting resources to best ensure the emotional, mental and physical well being of prisoners before they are released.  Conditions of confinement should support an offender’s preparation for community reintegration as a law abiding citizen.

Further, laws of civilized nations are primarily meant to codify the principles that all persons should be treated equally and fairly and that no one should be made to suffer torturous or inhumane treatment.  To quote Nelson Mandela “…No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”