In the wake of another confirmed death, the latest in a distressing string of fatalities at notoriously severe Newfoundland prisons, Bob Buckingham extended an urgent appeal to his colleagues in defence law. He beseeched them to brainstorm strategies for heightening their advocacy on behalf of inmates housed within these austere institutions.
The recent death, allegedly a suicide, was the seventh recorded since 2017 in provincial jails. In the decade between 2010 and 2020, these facilities bore the grim distinction of the highest rate of inmate suicide in all of Atlantic Canada.
Recent times have seen Newfoundland and Labrador judges delivering shorter sentences for at least two inmates incarcerated at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s. Such decisions were accented by sharply critical text, rebuking the historic prison’s deteriorating infrastructure and disturbing issues of rodent and mould contamination. Buckingham passionately rallies lawyers to evoke such lamentable conditions in courtroom discussions, encouraging judges to intervene and exert pressure on the provincial government for substantive change.
Buckingham, practising in St. John’s, advocates for a political initiative focused on effecting radical reforms to the prison system. He highlights the necessity of integrating principles of fundamental justice, allowing inmates better platforms to challenge substandard conditions.
Unlike its federal counterpart, oversight of provincial jails in Canada is frequently lacking. Federal prisons are scrutinized by the Office of the Correctional Investigator, releasing inmate death statistics and maintaining open channels with the media. Non-natural causes of death within these institutions are investigated by a four-member team.
Provincial departments, such as Newfoundland and Labrador’s Justice Department, usually only publicly confirm inmate death upon media inquiries. Certain provinces including British Columbia, initiate automatic inquests into deaths beyond natural circumstances.
Toronto human rights lawyer Corey Shefman, whose focus is advocacy for Indigenous people and communities, detailed the troubling lack of accountability in most provincial jails. He emphasized the urgent need for an independent oversight body akin to the federal corrections investigator and the inclusion of stronger rehabilitative programming in provincial systems.
Jen Metcalfe, executive director at the British Columbia-based Prisoners’ Legal Services, urged for obligatory disclosure of all data concerning deaths within provincial jail facilities. Legal aid services across Atlantic Canada and the Prairie provinces are constrained by meagre funding, according to Metcalfe,
Buckingham relayed a tepid response to his plea yet remains hopeful six of his colleagues will convene to discuss their course of action. Buckingham looks to enact system-wide reforms, arguing that existing plans to replace Her Majesty’s Penitentiary would merely perpetuate a flawed system within the context of a new facility.
