Crowding and Conditions at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre Prepared by: Criminalization and Punishment Education Project

(CPEP)*

The Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre on Innes Road has been chronically overcapacity for many years, with three and sometimes even four prisoners sleeping in small cells built for one or two. In some parts of the jail, those prisoners remain in their cells 23 hours a day or more. Former OCDC superintendent Asfia Sultan testified in Superior Court in 2006 that prisoners were sleeping in the showers due to the crowding problems. 70 to 75 per cent of prisoners in OCDC at any time are not serving sentences but are awaiting trial or other court dates. Although police-reported victimization rates have been steadily falling, the number of prisoners in Ontario hung up in the legal process and awaiting court dates has risen dramatically, with the rate tripling since 1978, due to growing backlogs in Ontario courts and bail reforms. Conditions at OCDC were in the media spotlight again recently due to three sensational cases. Prisoner Julie Bilotta gave birth on her cell floor in September 2012 after guards allegedly ignored hours of pleas for help until it was too late to take er to the hospital. A June 2013 report from the Ontario Ombudsman revealed that an OCDC guard stomped on the head of man with a psychiatric disability as he lay shackled and handcuffed in his cell, and then other guards helped him cover it up. Christina Jahn, a mentally ill woman with terminal cancer, recently received a settlement from the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal after being kept in segregation for more than 200 days at OCDC. But OCDC has long been a focus of public and media concern, drawing much criticism from the legal community and elsewhere. In a 2004 ruling condemning OCDC conditions as lower than United Nations minimum standards, Judge Denis Power argued that OCDC brought the administration of justice into disrepute. Ottawa Citizen newspaper stories dating back for more than 20 years, and dozens of people who have been in contact with us in regard to todays forum, have reported severe problems with crowding, unsanitary conditions, problems with laundry service, lack of access to medical, dental, and psychiatric care, and the dearth of help with drug issues and other potentially rehabilitative counselling, among other things. If you would like to be involved in an ongoing effort push for better conditions at OCDC, please email Dr. Aaron Doyle at aaron.doyle@carleton.ca or phone him at 613-799-1954. There will be a meeting of anyone interested helping with this effort on Saturday, December 7, at 2 pm at the Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Avenue.

* CPEP aims to bring students and researchers from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa and community members together with those affected by criminalization and punishment to identify key issues to be the focus of criminological inquiry, develop collaborative research projects, and plan and carry out related public education initiatives.

https://www.facebook.com/CPEPgroup http://cpep-pscs.sagsc.org/ Please contact us if you would like more details or documentation on any of the above information.