Moved the adoption of the report.

She said: Honourable senators, I rise today in support of the thirty-fifth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, which deals with Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act.

The purpose of Bill C-83 is to reform the federal correctional system in a number of ways. One of the objectives of the proposed legislation is to respond to recent court rulings on administration segregation: the 2017 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Corporation of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. Her Majesty the Queen and the 2018 decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in British Columbia Civil Liberties Association v. Canada (Attorney General).

According to those two decisions, certain practices related to the administrative segregation of federal inmates violate sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

To the best of its ability, the committee endeavoured to examine the subject matter of Bill C-83, working diligently under challenging time constraints.

Over the course of its meetings, the committee heard from 17 witnesses who appeared either as individuals or on behalf of eight different organizations. We also received more than a dozen letters and briefs from experts and organizations.

On behalf of the committee, I thank everyone and all the organizations that shared their expertise with us.

Based on the testimony we received, the committee made several amendments to Bill C-83 with the goal of strengthening the bill.

A definition of “mental health assessment” is added at the beginning of the bill, in clause 1. The committee wants to highlight that individuals who are incarcerated have a right to access qualified health care professionals and have the appropriate competencies to provide effective and suitable mental health treatment.

A statement is added to clause 2 of the bill to affirm that Correctional Service Canada “gives preference to alternatives to carceral isolations,” particularly through a broad interpretation of sections 29, 81 and 84, which provide for transfers to the health facilities or the community for eligible offenders. The goal of this amendment is to shift the culture of Correctional Service Canada towards the use of least restrictive forms of incarceration and to encourage the use of community-based approaches to incarceration when possible.

Clause 2 has been amended to indicate that the Correctional Service of Canada must ensure the effective delivery of programs to incarcerated persons for the purpose of rehabilitation, including educational programs, vocational training and volunteer programs. The CSC must also consider and give preference to alternatives to carceral isolations. With this amendment, the committee is seeking to emphasize how critical it is for incarcerated persons to participate in rehabilitation and reintegration programs.

The bill is also amended in clause 3 to stipulate that offenders should undergo a mental health assessment as soon as practicable within 30 days of arriving at the penitentiary.

Some witnesses indicated in committee that most offenders suffer from a diagnosed mental illness and a timely assessment of their mental health is essential. The provisions of clause 7 were rearranged to emphasize the importance of transferring an offender to a hospital or mental health facility when possible.

The committee heard that federal penitentiaries are ill-suited to treat those with mental illness. This amendment seeks to ensure that offenders with mental illness receive the care and treatment they require in a hospital or mental health facility.

The bill is amended at clause 7 to state that an individual transferred to a structured intervention unit should receive a mental health assessment within 24 hours of such a transfer, and if that individual suffers from any “disabling mental health issue,” they shall be transferred to a psychiatric hospital in accordance with section 29.

The purpose of this amendment is to reduce the harm to offenders with mental illnesses who are placed in conditions that are similar to solitary confinement in structured intervention units.

Clause 10 of the bill is amended to affirm that confinement in a structured intervention unit is to end “as soon as possible,” and will be of a duration of no more than “48 hours unless authorized by a Superior Court.”

Members of the committee strongly believe that judicial oversight of the use of structured intervention units is necessary to protect the rights of offenders.

Clause 14 is amended in the bill to require that Correctional Service Canada staff members have “individualized reasonable grounds” to conduct a strip-search of an offender.

Witnesses spoke of the negative effect of strip searches on offenders’ mental well-being, particularly for female offenders who have previously experienced sexual abuse.

The goal is to ensure that strip searches are not a routine occurrence but are instead based on individualized suspicion of the offender in question.

This amendment is in line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners — the Mandela Rules — which state that strip searches should be undertaken “only if absolutely necessary” and not used as a matter of routine.

The bill is amended at clause 23 to indicate that Correctional Service Canada personnel must also take into account family and adoption history when making decisions in accordance with the act about an Indigenous offender. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that, when making decisions about an Indigenous offender, Correctional Service Canada personnel take into account all the unique socio-historical factors affecting Indigenous peoples, including intergenerational trauma caused by the residential school system.

Clauses 24 and 25 are amended in the bill to affirm that Correctional Service Canada may, for the purposes of providing correctional services, enter into an agreement with an Indigenous organization, an Indigenous governing body or a community group that focuses on the needs of a disadvantaged or minority population.

Furthermore, if an offender requests the support of one of the mentioned entities on release, Correctional Service Canada shall provide that entity with an opportunity to propose a plan for the offender’s release and integration into the community in which the offender is to be released.

The committee’s goal is to encourage Correctional Service Canada to work with Indigenous communities, as well as groups representing other disadvantaged or minority populations, to promote community-based alternatives to incarceration of these populations.

A new clause, 35.1, is added to the bill so that an incarcerated person may apply to the court that imposed the sentence being served for an order reducing the period of their incarceration or parole ineligibility if, in the opinion of the court, there was unfairness in the administration of a sentence. “Unfairness in the administration of a sentence” includes any decision, recommendation, act or omission by Correctional Service Canada that affected the incarcerated person and that was contrary to law or an established policy; unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory; based wholly or partly on a mistake of law or fact; or an abuse of discretionary power.

The purpose of this amendment is to provide offenders with recourse in the event of an abuse of power on the part of Correctional Service Canada, such as the unfair use of isolation for an extended period of time.

Lastly, clause 40 is amended to state that, in the second and fifth years after which the act comes into force, a comprehensive review of the provisions enacted by the act must be undertaken by a committee of the Senate and a committee of the House of Commons.

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure accountability by guaranteeing that the changes implemented by this act are monitored by the Senate and the House of Commons.

That is where things stand with the 16 amendments adopted by our committee. In our study, the committee weighed the constitutional concerns that were raised in this chamber at second reading stage. Some of our amendments are presented in an effort to respond to those concerns.

In one of its three observations, the committee calls on this assembly to review this matter in more detail during debate at third reading. The two other observations concern the psychiatric assessment of incarcerated persons. The committee is concerned about the fact that Bill C-83 does not require Correctional Service Canada personnel to have mental health training or expertise to better screen and support incarcerated persons who are suffering from mental illness.

The committee is also concerned about the fact that the bill does not provide details on the nature of the therapy and rehabilitation programs offered to incarcerated persons in a structured intervention unit, nor on the selection criteria for participants or program evaluations. We felt this aspect was really important to understanding and improving the mental health of those incarcerated in a structured intervention unit.

On that, I recommend that you adopt this report so that this chamber may move on to third reading stage of Bill C-83. Thank you.