Canadian Correctional Service Strikes Again

Visits play an important role in preparing prisoners to get out. So, why does the Correctional Service of Canada put so many roadblocks on visiting? The excuses they use most often are security and drug trafficking prevention.

So then why is a mother not allowed to visit her son for the first month of his incarceration? Is it because she is an addict? No. She never has and never will use drugs, not even prescribed ones. Is it because she is a threat to staff? No. She is barely 5 feet tall and weighs in at less than 100 pounds, even soaking wet. Is it because she is a bad person? No. It is because she is vocal about abuses perpetrated on prisoners while they are serving their time.

If you tell the higher authorities what local prison officials and guards are doing to torture the prisoners, then you are not allowed to visit. If you buy a newspaper subscription for your son so he can keep informed about the world outside the prison, you cannot be trusted and cannot visit. If you tell your son about the avenues he can use to right any wrongs, then you cannot visit. If you ask to speak to his management team, then you are interfering and you cannot visit.

What are we learning from this? you can visit prisoners you do not know if you do it under the umbrella of a church group. You can meet prisoners through a pen pal arrangement. But, Heaven Forbid if you want to visit a relative in prison. That is just not a good idea.

Our son, Derik Lord, has been in prison for half his life. Not that he actually committed a crime, but he was found guilty of one. that part does not matter. He will never see the outside because his family still visits him. They made sure he was moved far enough away that it is difficult for his mother to see him. They will not allow his father to see him at all. It has been over 4 years since he has seen his father. His father tells him about the laws being broken and the redress available to him. His father offers to speak with the people in control and is turned away. His father writes letters to the people in charge of the system, and some things do change, but that makes him an unwelcome trouble maker in the system. So he is not allowed to visit.

Where do we go from here? We need to reform the system to be more accepting of family contact. The system has to be more forward in encouragement of family visits. The system needs to take a closer look at the benefits from family visits. The system needs to open the prisons to more outside contact, not less. The prison system needs to encourage more passes to prisoners to interact with people not in prison. And the list goes on from there.

It takes an extraordinary man to avoid being corrupted by this evil unlawful system. Visits from family members and others can help prevent the great loss to society that occurs during "rehabilitation".

Contact me via Skype coach_elouise
via email lordelouise@gmail.com

Contact the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, Don Head, at
National Headquarters
340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P9

Phone: (613) 992-5891
Fax: (613) 943-1630

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