Today, the final edition of the Prison Pandemic Papers was launched online, making available previously unpublished government records obtained using access to information and freedom of information requests submitted to governments across Canada. These records provide insights into how COVID-19 and related government measures impacted imprisoned people and those working in congregate settings of human caging at the federal and provincial-territorial level. The release of these documents by the Prison Pandemic Partnership comes at a time when communicable diseases continue to have a significant impact on life and work behind bars, as is evidenced by a recent outbreak of streptococcal disease that killed two people warehoused at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex earlier this month.
Dr. Kevin Walby, Full Professor of Criminal Justice and Director of the Centre for Access to Information and Justice (CAIJ) from the University of Winnipeg, led the collection of freedom of information records that form the Prison Pandemic Papers. He describes the importance of the initiative: “We’re living in a time characterized by profound disruptions to everyday life stemming from advances in automation, artificial intelligence, armed conflict and crimes against humanity, financial crises endemic to capitalism and the increasingly unchecked economic power of the uber-rich, climate catastrophe, and other troubling developments that have created considerable insecurity for people across the world. To better understand how to navigate the crises of the present and future, we need to learn from those of the past. The Prison Pandemic Papers offer us an opportunity to examine one such crisis – the COVID-19 public health emergency – in greater depth so that we can improve how we collectively respond to pressing challenges in ways that save lives while preserving our basic humanity”.
Mackenzie Plumb, a PhD student in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and member of the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP) who triaged and curated the final edition of the Prison Pandemic Papers notes: “As the recent strep outbreak deaths at the Maplehurst superjail demonstrate, sites of confinement may be able to contain people, but they remain as porous and vulnerable to disease transmission as they were when a COVID-19 outbreak struck the Toronto South Detention Centre on this day five years ago and when countless other public health events have impacted life and work behind bars since the creation of prisons centuries ago”. Dr. Justin Piché, a Full Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa who also took part in curating the Prison Pandemic Papers, adds: “The need to safely divert and decarcerate people from custody, as well as invest in community supports for criminalized people proven to enhance our collective well-being that were underfunded before, during and after the pandemic, remains as urgent as ever”.
Shakir Rahim, Director of Criminal Justice for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), concludes by noting: “We live in a period where many human rights and civil liberties gains are under threat. Human rights and civil liberties must be actively promoted and defended, especially for those who are acutely vulnerable in our society, like those who are imprisoned. The previous and final edition of the Prison Pandemic Papers provide a trove of documents that demonstrate how the rights of imprisoned people were frequently cast aside during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a history that we must learn from and never again repeat.”
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Links to the Prison Pandemic Papers:
Newfoundland and Labrador – March 2022 release
Prince Edward Island – March 2022 release
Nova Scotia – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
New Brunswick – March 2022 release
Quebec – March 2022 release
Ontario – March 2022 part I | part II and March 2025 releases
Manitoba – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
Saskatchewan – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
Alberta – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
British Columbia – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
Nunavut – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
Northwest Territories – March 2022 release
Yukon – March 2022 release
Federal | Canada – March 2022 and March 2025 releases
About the Prison Pandemic Partnership:
The Centre for Access to Justice and Information (CAIJ) promotes public interest research using freedom of information (FOI) and access to information (ATI) law. The CAIJ fosters collaborations between social science and humanities scholars, as well as access advocates, investigative journalists, and legal professionals from across Canada and beyond.
The Criminalization and Punishment Education Project (CPEP) engages in research and community organizing to reduce the use and harms of policing and imprisonment in the short-term, while working towards abolitionist futures. The group advocates expanded access to community supports and transformative justice to prevent and respond to social harm.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
These three organizations worked together on the Prison Pandemic Partnership, which examined the impact of COVID-19 on jails, prisons and penitentiaries across the country. The partnership was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Partnership Engage Grant 1008-2020-0238).
Media Contacts:
Kevin Walby, PhD
uWinnipeg | CAIJ
k.walby@uwinnipeg.ca
Shakir Rahul, JD
CCLA
media@ccla.org
Media Contact - French:
Justin Piché, PhD
uOttawa | CPEP
justin.piche@uottawa.ca
