Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris believes prison inmates in BC have reasonable settings when it comes to solitary confinement.
This comes after comments from a provincial judge, who spoke openly about the effects of being “thrown in the hole” at Federal institutions, claiming the environments lead to psychological harm and, in some cases, suicide.
However, Morris says creating a new legislation in Ottawa could improve the issue.
“I don’t necessarily believe there should be certain limits on it because a lot of the inmates actually request to be placed in those enhanced supervision models, but by putting guidelines in place to make sure that the prisoners have procedural fairness, that’s more reflective of where that should be going.”
According to the former Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General, BC inmates receive medical assessments and treatments when placed in solitary confinement.
He says they also have the right to receive written reasoning.
“I think BC already has a pretty good system in place that monitors that on a routine basis compared to other provinces in Canada, and I think the prison staff and the inmates are quite well served with that policy.”
BC Justice Peter Leask says segregating inmates is unconstitutional and says he’s giving the government one year to put together a new law to set limits.
Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has said the judgement is being reviewed.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
