THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN OF CANADA
LE CONSEIL NATIONAL DES FEMMES DU CANADA

Mary Gusella,
Chief Commissioner,
Canadian Human Rights Commission
344 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1E1

Dear Ms. Gusella:

Re: Human Rights Violation of Women Prisoners by the Government of Canada

The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) supports fully the complaint submitted by the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies to the Human Rights Commission regarding the discrimination faced by federally incarcerated women on the basis of sex, race and disability by the Canadian Government. NCWC holds the view that this case of discrimination has been proven beyond any shadow of doubt.

NCWC expresses keen disappointment in the Consultation Paper for the Special Report on the Situation of Federally Sentenced Women, January 2003 (Canadian Human Rights Commission) in which the systemic nature of the discrimination faced by women prisoners is not well articulated. The questions raised deal with issues that clearly have been substantiated as discriminatory but have not been acted upon. .

NCWC, like other equality seeking organizations, waited patiently, and then with growing impatience for the government to take action on CREATING CHOICES, the 1990 report of the Federal Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women. NCWC contributed to the both difficult and painful work of the Task Force and supported the report's recommendations. The feeling was that this time the Government of Canada would finally support and implement the principles and dreams of CREATING CHOICES. These principles for change were expressed through a plan which provides meaningful choices for Federally Sentenced Women (FSW) in the immediate-term, and which were set with a context that looked forward to long-term fundamental change in the criminal justice system's response to women in conflict with the law.

CREATING CHOICES outlined initiatives based on a c lassification system intended for women only which included the creation of medium and minimum security facilities (both lacking) and for community involvement in the delivery of programs i.e. health, education, and employment training etc. These same initiatives are repeated in the Canadian Human Rights Commission Consultation Paper for the Special Report on the Situation of Federally Sentenced Women (Jan 2003).