Troubled Waters

I was in William Head prison for a social event last week. It was a lot of fun. But it had a dark side to it as well.

It was a family day, so the inmate committee hired a clown group to entertain the children. Unfortunately, there were not many children there. My granddaughter had so much fun running after the clowns, the gigantic beach ball, and throwing water balloons at everyone. We lost the giant beach ball though. The prison is on a point, surrounded on 3 sides by ocean. The wind caught the ball and carried it over the fence and into the water. Last we saw of it, it was heading rapidly towards Bellingham, WA. A helpful sailor tried to catch it using his sailboat, but the wind carried it away so fast, he had to give up within minutes!

I found that most of the prisoners do not have family who visit them. We were greatly outnumbered by lonely men watching and wishing they had someone to visit them. Tony is one such man

Tony comes from the other coast of Canada. The east coast. Labrador, to be exact. He was never close to his family. There were issues around alcohol and drugs in his home. Since he left home at 13, he has not had contact with any family, for 27 years. He has spent a long time in prison, 21 years. He made parole a couple of times and came back both times because he fell right back into the same stuff that got him there in the first place. Now, at the ripe age of 40, he is looking to start his life over again. This time, he is clean, no drugs. He and Derik have been working together to get him training for a job out there. He has been off the drugs for 2 years now. He is working on carpentry skills. He is learning to cook from Derik, He is working in the prison sawmill. But he has no family support.

We allowed him to participate in the activities with our family. He had agreat day, but... I wonder how he will do outside those prison walls. He has never had a bank account. He has never learned to budget. He has never learned how to find a job. He has never seen a computer up close. He will need coaching when he gains parole next. Who will be there for him? So many are in the same situation.

Drastic changes are needed to our prison system to give these fellows a fighting chance to have a "normal" life. Trsining for work is not provided in all prisons. Counselling is not always readily available outside the walls. The parole system sets them up to fail. Job security for prison workers?

Because Derik has been wrongfully convicted, he is spending much more prison time than someone who confesses to a crime. He cannot lie well. He refuses to make a false confession just to get out of prison. So he stays. He has grown up inside those walls. Fortunately he has family support. He will have a job almost immediately in carpentry. He will have guidance to set up his living quarters, his bank account, his budget, and all those other things we all take for granted by the time we reach our 30's.

The current Parole Board cannot see past a confession. It violates the Criminal Code of Canada to use imprisonment in order to coerce a confession, but they do it anyway. It appears they set themselves above the law. The United Nations has realized that using coercion to force a confession is a violation of basic human rights. Canada is signatory to the agreement on treatment of prisoners. So why does our government not force our prison system to follow the laws and tenets? Why is there no avenue to correct errors in the system?

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

Anyone have any ideas?

http://www.canadianinjustice.com

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Coach Elouise
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