Knowing she would be unable to seek any employment, not only because she was pregnant, but, most significantly, because one of the conditions of her sentence was that she could not leave her house -- Ontario then also terminated her welfare payments. Although a legal challenge resulted in the reinstatement of her welfare "benefits", the 'Ontario government continues to enforce its policy to terminate benefits and permanently disentitle from receiving welfare anyone convicted of welfare fraud. In fact, other provinces are now also following suit. In fact, just last week -- before Kim's death -- the media profiled similar problems in Nova Scotia, after a woman there was similarly convicted of welfare fraud and sentenced to house arrest and then had her social assistance terminated. Other provinces are apparently following suit.

We all must act to interfere with these draconian, destructive and illegal practices. These approaches are not only criminalizing the poor, but are sentencing them to destruction. Just exactly how does anybody think that someone sentenced to a jail sentence in their own home can support themselves [and their children, in the case of many single and sole support Moms] after they are permanently barred from obtaining social assistance. It is a complete and utter set up. If they leave their homes to obtain work or any other means of support, they may be subject to a further criminal charge of breaching the conditions (ie. the confinement part of the house arrest) of the conditional sentence. Such a breach will automatically result in a jail sentence. The logic is stunningly absent and the stupidity abundantly clear. Who says there is no war against the most dispossessed, especially the poor?

Increasingly, we are seeing a direct relationship between such policies and the increased criminalization of the most marginalized, especially young, racialized and poor women. This is a significant part of the reason that we, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, have joined with the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres to host the October 1-3, 2001 conference, Women's Resistance: From Victimization to Criminalization.

These issues and welfare policies will be part of the overall conference agenda. More info is available via our website and although we are organizing with virtually no resources, what we do have, we are using to subsidize the most dispossessed to participate -- starting with women in and from prisons and shelters. Come join us in the struggle against the attacks on the poor and criminalization of the most dispossessed!

3. General Advocacv Issues

a) Classification and Penitentiary Placement

CAEFS has seen some excellent cooperation between Regional Advocates and the National Office, most notably with respect the new Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) policy regarding the placement of prisoners convicted of first and second degree murder in maximum security prisons for a minimum of two years. It is undoubtably in part a result of the legal actions that were commenced by 4 of the 5 women who were directly affected, that the policy was recently changed for the second time following it's implementation. It now is deemed not to apply to any women who were in federal prisons at the time of the inception of the policy - whether or not they were already classified.