On June 30, 2016, the 43rd Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was published in accordance with section 192 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. The CCRA, enacted in 1992, enshrined the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and gives the Office of the Correctional Investigator authority to serve as an ombudsman for federally sentenced offenders and investigate complaints related to Correctional Service Canada decisions, recommendations, acts or omissions.
After the Office of the Correctional Investigator published its 2015-2016 report, six issues and trends stood out
1. An unabated increase in the number of Indigenous people behind bars, a rate now surpassing 25% of the total federal incarcerated population.
2. The reliance on and escalating number of use of force incidents involving inflammatory agents.
3. The demonstrated but unfulfilled need for more vocational and skills training programs in corrections facilities.
4. Continuing decline in the quality and rigour of case management practices.
5. Inadequate progress in preventing deaths in custody.
6. Alternative service delivery arrangements for significantly mentally ill offenders.
The report presents various prison-related issues, including health care and prison conditions and it also highlights the specific issues faced by certain populations of detainees, including Indigenous and transgender people. It outlines recommendations on each issue/trend and an evaluation of progress made on recommendations presented in previous annual reports.
The section entitled “Safe and Timely Community Reintegration” highlights education and stresses the importance of training programs in prisons due to the fact that detainees who follow education programs have a better chance at socioprofessional reintegration and are less likely to reoffend.
However, the report laments the fact that “approximately 75% of offenders admitted to federal custody on their first sentence reported that they did not have a high school diploma” and that “planned spending on education programs declined by approximately 10% from $24.34M in 2014-15 to $21.86M in 2015-16 and is set to remain at the lower expenditure for the next three years.”
To this effect, the Office of the Correctional Investigator recommends that “CSC develop a three-year action plan to meet demand for meaningful work, increase vocational training skills and participation in apprenticeship programs. “
The UNESCO Chair’s mission statement is “to promote, stimulate and encourage applied research on various aspects of education in correctional settings and foster more in-depth consideration and concrete action in this regard at the international level.” Therefore, the UNESCO Chair team is delighted that issues related to prison education are taken seriously by the Office of the Correctional Investigator in assessing the conditions of federal detainees.
FINANCING
GRANT FROM THE QUEBEC MINISTÈRE DE L’ÉDUCATION ET DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT
SUPÉRIEUR (MÉES)
As part of an agreement with the Quebec ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur (MÉES), the UNESCO Chair team submitted a progress report outlining the progress of its work on various initiatives.
This report is filed annually and allows MÉES to track projects that are made possible by the grant.
The UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison would like to thank the Quebec ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur for their financial support for 2016-2017, which was granted in March 2017.
AGREEMENT WITH THE QUEBEC MINISTÈRE DE LA SÉCURITÉ PUBLIQUE (MSP)
The UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison has entered into a research agreement with the Quebec ministère de la Sécurité publique (MSP) for the period from 2016 to 2019.
Following the completion of a needs analysis in terms of education in detention facilities under provincial jurisdiction in Quebec for the period from 2016 to 2017, the UNESCO Chair will update the global bibliographic references in the field of prison education for the year 2017-2018.
The UNESCO Chair would like to thank the Quebec ministère de la Sécurité publique (MSP) for entering into this agreement which will further applied research in prison education.
RESEARCH
PILOT PROJECT – ATTESTATION OF COLLEGIAL STUDIES IN DETENTION CENTRES
As part of its contractual agreement with the Quebec ministère de la Sécurité publique and continuing education programs at Marie-Victorin Cégep, the UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison carried out a needs analysis in terms of college training in provincial detention facilities and it was agreed that the Marie-Victorin Cégep Continuing Education program will propose an Attestation of collegial studies pilot project for one or two detention centre(s).
A meeting and talks were also held with senior leaders from the Quebec ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur (MÉES) to explore collaboration with the Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MTESS) on this pilot project. A potential service offer would include continuing education programs and project coordination and the UNESCO Chair would provide project evaluation.
USEFUL LINKS:
Click here to read the Canadian Corrections and Conditional Release Act
Click here to read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Click here to read the 43rd Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator 2015-2016