It is the view of CAEFS that a fund, comparable to that established in order to enable those most marginalized in Canadian society and those who are deemed to be in need of the protection articulated in Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were afforded the opportunity to ensure legal representation as a result of the development of a “Court Challenges Program Fund”. CAEFS is of the view that a similar fund needs to be established for prisoners, such that the Prisoner Challenge fund may be accessed by those who are in prison and who may otherwise not be able to avail themselves of legal representation and assistance in order to ensure that their rights and entitlements are realized. This fund could be set up as a subset, much as the Language Rights fund is set up as a subset of the Charter Challenges fund.

In addition, it is the view of CAEFS that an external governance body and inspector general type of position is required to monitor the ongoing conditions of confinement experienced by women prisoners across Canada. The governance body could be set up pursuant to the provisions of Section 77 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, as could an inspectorate whose responsibility it is to monitor the conditions of confinement in women’s prisons. The Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women envisioned a model whereby national advisory bodies would exist to govern the manner in which women’s prisons were managed in Canada. It also envisioned the existence of regional advisory bodies to govern the manner in which each individual prison was run. With the exception of one advisory body in the Atlantic region, there are no other similar advisory bodies for the women’s prisons throughout the country. Accordingly, we believe it is now time to establish such oversight mechanisms.

3. Summary of Recommendations

The Canadian Human Rights Commission must immediately act in order to ensure that the strongest recommendations possible are made for the implementation of such accountability mechanisms as those that have been recommended before and by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Madam Justice Louise Arbour and other external observers, chroniclers, investigators, and commentators on the manner in which the Correctional Service of Canada has and continues to conduct itself.

In summary, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) urges the Canadian Human Rights Commission to immediately recommend the following remedial actions to address the discriminatory treatment of federally sentenced women in Canada.

Submission of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) to the Canadian Human Rights Commission for the Special Report on the Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Race and Disability Faced by Federally Sentenced Women