B.C. association files lawsuit to stop practices akin to solitary confinement
A B.C. association has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the hope of stopping practices it says are not unlike solitary confinement.
In a statement Wednesday, the BC Civil Liberties Association said it hoped the lawsuit would stop wardens and federal prisons from isolating people using lockdowns and "restrictive movement routines."
The organization alleges these practices are used to lock down institutions as a whole or to set restrictive schedules "that isolate people to their cells for days, weeks and months at a time."
"We know that isolating people indefinitely has devastating impacts on their physical and mental health. It dramatically increases the risk of suicide," said Megan Tweedie, senior counsel for BCCLA, in a news release.
"Long-term solitary confinement by any name cannot be allowed to continue."
The BCCLA claims in its lawsuit that prisons don't have the authority to introduce indefinite lockdowns and restrictive movement routines, and argues the practices violate charter rights.
In 2019, the BCCLA challenged an administration segregation law and won.
"The administrative segregation law is gone, but, tragically, solitary confinement is not," said Grace Pastine, BCCLA's litigation director, in the release.
"We're going back to court because no one deserves to be held in such inhumane and degrading conditions … it's time to end this broken and dangerous system which causes extreme and sometimes permanent harm to the people who endure it."
The lawsuit will be heard in B.C. Supreme Court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.