In November 2006, the Council of Ministers handed over the coordination of the file to the Ministry of Public Security. In view of the above, on August 31, 2006, the Quebec Ombudsman wrote to the Deputy Ministers of the Ministry of Municipal and Regional Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security to ensure that his concerns will be taken into account in the decisions of next. and actions. Quebec's ombudsman considers the erosion of the banks of the St. Lawrence to be a matter of concern.
The Ministère de la Sécurité publique recognizes that the public coordination entrusted to it as a function of its role in civil protection is a key factor for the success of the risk prevention framework. Communicating the risk, an activity to which Services Québec is associated, represents a crucial step in the management of the prevention framework. The Direction générale des correctionnels services of the Ministère de la Sécurité publique is responsible for enforcing the Correctional Services Act, which was replaced by the Québec Correctional System Act, which came into force in February 2007.
The mission of the Québec Ombudsman is to independently and impartially monitor the manner in which the Services correctionnels du Québec carry out this mandate. The most recent portrait of correctional clientele, commissioned by the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, dates from 2002.1 Here are some of the characteristics that emerged from this portrait: 51.5% of correctional clientele said they had seen a health care provider for problems that related to mental health care.
The Quebec Ombudsman is also paying special attention to the many jobs that the Directorate General of Correctional Services has set up to ensure the implementation of the reform. The implementation of the reform began in February 2007 and it is too early to analyze its impact. This reform promises positive impacts for public safety and social harmony in Québec.
There is a discrepancy between the principles of the reform and the reality as perceived by the Ombudsman in Québec during his investigations and interventions. The Ministère de la Sécurité publique is currently waiting for the provincial representative of the Ministrère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) to start this work. The Ministère de la Sécurité publique calculates operational capacity as 88% of the number of available beds.
Given the fact that the increase in the number of prisoners and the capacity of detention facilities has made overcrowding a permanent situation;. The Services correctionnels du Québec (SCQ) has assessed its entire infrastructure and submitted its planning framework, which spans 15 years and identifies priorities aimed at, among other things, replacing outdated facilities (including those with cells without toilets) and phasing out the use of dormitories. They must not be deprived of the care they need because of their imprisonment.
With the exception of the recommendation regarding the record of the use of preventive confinement, the above recommendations from the Quebec Ombudsman were accepted and the guidance modified accordingly.
MONITORING AND SUPERVISION OF INMATES
That the Ministère de la Sécurité publique establish a normal level of service for detention centers to achieve the objectives of the Act relating to Québec's correctional system, based on the ratio of the number of full-time employees of an institution to the number of inmates;. Normal adjustments have been made to the initial planning, but always in accordance with the implementation of the law. While a number of inmates at a Quebec detention center contacted the Quebec Ombudsman to complain about long wait times for the production of their assessment and the development of their correctional case management plan.
The Ombudsman of Québec has received numerous complaints from citizens whose requests for temporary absence could not be processed because they had not been subject to an in-depth assessment. In other cases, the hearing before the Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles was postponed due to a lack of assessment. On January 10, 2007, the Quebec Ombudsman informed the Direction générale des services correctionnels of his concerns.
Following the signing in September 2004 of the administrative agreement between the Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles (CQLC) and the Services correctionnels du Québec (SCQ) on the modalities of operation regarding the parole program, the SCQ established a regular follow-up. With the entry into force of an act respecting the correctional system of Québec (LSCQ), this continuity will be improved to take into account the new parameters. In addition, since the LSCQ came into force, the SCQ has called on Prison Counselor Services to reduce production times.
Here are some examples of complaints reviewed during the year and deemed genuine by the Quebec Ombudsman. The testimony of several actors suggested that the citizen, after being evaluated, could receive a temporary leave of absence, depending on the quality of the elements in his file. A few weeks later, the Quebec Ombudsman learned that the citizen had finally been assessed just before the one-third mark of the sentence.
The Québec Ombudsman has already intervened and made recommendations in cases where an institution refuses to provide inmates with forms to report a work-related injury. After steps were taken, the director of the facility, at the request of the Québec Ombudsman, reminded the staff involved that access to such forms is a right. It is solely the task of the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail to decide whether an accident at work has occurred.
INSUFFICIENT COORDINATION OF SERVICES WITHIN FACILITIES
In January 2007, the citizen contacted the Québec ombudsman, because he still could not go out into the courtyard. A number of actors at the detention facility confirmed that no coats were available for indigent persons, given the exorbitant cost of articles of this nature. After taking many steps, the Québec ombudsman learned of the existence of approximately one hundred coats stored in premises used for procurement.
At a subsequent meeting, the Director of Administration acknowledged that there had undoubtedly been a lack of communication between staff at the various branches involved, resulting in citizens receiving incorrect information. As a result, the institution failed to provide a coat to the citizen between the time of his initial request in October and his release on February 5, 2007, depriving him of his daily exercise in the yard. On February 23, 2007, at the request of the Québec Ombudsman, the institution issued a memorandum informing officials in the accommodation sector that it was now possible to lend coats to needy persons.
ADVERSE EFFECTS OF TRANSFERS
Transfer compromises a detainee's social reintegration process A detainee who had recently been transferred to another institution complained to the Québec Ombudsman about the effects of this decision on his steps towards social integration. He was highly motivated in this regard and reported that he had participated in various therapeutic and educational activities offered by the initial institution. However, he was only able to attend one session before being transferred, due to overcrowding, to another facility that did not offer these services.
The citizen was also concerned about the impact of the situation when the time came to request parole. On this last point, staff of the detention facility contacted by the Québec Ombudsman were reassuring: the absence of reintegration activities should not harm the citizen, since he was not responsible for the situation, and the elements in his file would he wants to demonstrate to involve himself to the Commission. Every year, the Québec Ombudsman receives many complaints reporting the interruption of medical treatment as a direct or indirect result of a detainee's transfer from one facility to another.
Between April and December 2006, 43 complaints of this nature prompted the Québec Ombudsman to intervene with detention centers. Differences in practices and the way health care services are organized, limitations arising from the confidentiality of medical records, and the many circumstances surrounding detainee transfers can make it difficult to adopt a uniform operational approach that applies to all cases. Checks revealed that the original institution had not communicated some of the prescriptions in his file.
Although the citizen notified the nursing station at the new facility upon his arrival, the intervention of the Ombudsman of Québec was necessary for the information to be properly exchanged between the facilities. For more than a week, the citizen was deprived of an antidepressant, the prescription of which was issued by the doctor of the detention center, and as a result he suffered physical and emotional effects. He was at a regional facility where he was able to meet with a doctor who adjusted the dose every week.
Since enrollment in the program had not started at the new facility, the staff refused to follow up on the case and consequently did not adjust his dose. The facility to which the citizen was transferred did not have a physician authorized to prescribe methadone, while the physician at the source facility could not adjust the dose without meeting the patient. The ombudsman from Québec intervened, resulting in the citizen being returned to the facility of origin.
