Canadian Injustice

Canadian Correctional Service Strikes Again

2010-05-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

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

check out our story

So What is Next?

2010-04-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, they celebrate Christmas in prisons. Some have a not too bad family Christmas, but to many it is just another day. So what happens after 18 years inside? Derik has had that and it is now more than half his life spent behind those bars. He does not have regular family type Christmases. His father has not been allowed to see him for over 4 years now.

As I said in previous posts, he sits in prison wrongfully convicted of two counts of first degree murder. Because he will not confess to a crime he did not commit, he stays there. After 2 years of fighting with the system, he was finally moved to William Head Prison where he successfully completed his first year apprenticeship training in carpentry. He has a certificate in house framing, a first aid ticket, training in building foundations, framing walls, installing floors, constructing roof trusses, finishing the roof and putting in doors and windows properly. He has done insulation, siding, basic plumbing along with that. He is gaining some hours in the trade working with the onsite carpenter. He also is getting skidsteer loader esperience.

He will be gaining very few hours if he stays at William Head. So he heard about a large construction project starting at another prison. There he would get the hours he needs to complete his first year of apprenticeship. So, upon completion of his course and getting his grades, he applied to transfer out to the other prison.

Surprise!! Well, not really. As you have seen in previous postings, transfers for him have been particularly difficult. This one is no different. His Internal Parole Officer, IPO, has informed him that she will not support him for a transfer. She will not support him for family visits with his sister. She will not support him for escorted passes to the college to continue learning. She refused to even speak to him for at least 2 years. She has refused to do the paperwork that is her job. So, there he still sits. Again the system failed!

I tried to call her to get her point of view on this and perhaps a reason for her not to support him. She hung up on me. She told me that she does not speak to parents of prisoners. Why she won't use such a valuable resource to reach him I don't understand. What is she teaching him? That his views on the abusiveness of authority figures are well founded. Teaching him that if he bends over to be fucked, he might get something. Teaching him that women who work in prisons hate men. Teaching him that the system needs him for continuation of the jobs created by his incarceration.

You would think that a system basing its mandate on rehabilitation would be trying to educate, socialize and generally prepare men for re-entry into society. Instead, the system relies on continued incarceration, so any attempt at improving a prisoner's ability to earn a living, get along with people, control his anger, or anything else that might help him succeed is quashed. This young man, having gone from high school to prison, has never lived on his own. Should he not be offered as much education and life skills as possible? Apparently not, the system is concerned about job security and keeps him locked in.

Please write to the Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Canada, Ms. Anne Kelly, to offer your opinion on this.

Regional Headquarters - Pacific
32560 Simon Avenue
PO Box 4500
2nd Floor
Abbotsford, British Columbia
V2T 5L7
Phone: (604) 870-2500
Fax: (604) 870-2430

Deputy Commissioner: Anne Kelly

Tel.: (604) 870-2501
Fax: (604) 870-2430

Contact me:

Skype: coach_elouise
email: lordelouise@gmail.com

By the way, the other boy convicted at the same trial made up a confession and has been out on parole for 8 years now. He works as a cleaner at a local hospital.

When in Prison, Don't be Honest!

2010-02-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

This video made me laugh a lot!. However. It is nothing like life in Prison. Derik has been in prison now for 18 years. What for? for knowing the wrong person. Not that there was anything wrong with his friend other than a psychosis which he was getting treatment for. But when his friend's mother and grandmother were murdered, his friend was the type of person who falls under suspicion right away. Not because he was a violent person, but because he was super polite and had an attitude of superiority.

The long and the short of it is that since Derik and two friends were together for at least part of the evening in question, they were targeted as likely suspects and subsequently convicted of the crime with no physical evidence to back up the verdict.

I had an eye-opening experience with police investigations gone wrong. I know who commissioned the killings, but I cannot prove it. The hitman is in China. There is no extradition treaty with Chine, so as soon as an investigation heads that way it is usually dropped. I have seen the police use lies, force, coersion, and many other not so legal methods to get witnesses to change their testimony. I did not believe one could be convicted on hearsay evidence alone. But now I know better. It happens from time to time. It happened to Derik.

He was sentenced to life 10, along with another boy about the same age. The other boy fell for the coersion in prison. Guards, Parole officers, other officers, all tell prisoners that they have to confess to get out of prison. Legally, they do not have to do that. Derik went against the crowd. He said he would refuse to confess to a crime he did not commit. Especially, he would not confess to such a terrible one. Lots of prisoners say they did not do it, but they stay in prison for much longer times because of that denial. The other boy admitted and confessed to the crime. We do not know what he said to the prison staff, but by the time the 10 years was up, he was out of prison and on parole for the rest of his life. Derik still refuses to confess to this terrible crime. So he is still in prison.

The system has tried many ways to coerce him into making a false confession. Just to get out of prison. He still maintains his innocence and refuses to make that lie. So there he sits.

It is not like he has done nothing while in there. He has worked hard to improve himself. Since he was not allowed to complete high school, he obtained his equivalency certificate. He took the pilot course in peer counselling in prison. He became a peer counsellor for the other prisoners, helping them with sucidal tendencies, depression, marital issues, parenting issues and whatever else he could help them work through. He is well respected for that job. He has done every program the parole board wanted him to do except the ones where he has to confess. He has had passes outside of the prison. One for his grandmother's funeral, several for LINC meetings. LINC is lifers in the community who counsel others who have been in prison for a long time on how to survive on the outside.

He has tried to get passes for education, but since the class times are long and no guards want to sit on the classes, he was not able to get those. About 2 years ago he transferred to another prison to obtain a carpentry course. The first year of an appenticeship program in building construction. At first, the staff at this new place would not allow him into the course although he transferred there just to take that course. Finally, by going above the staff and appealing to th administration, he got the course. He has completed that successfully and is now certified as a framer for construciton.

But. Now the worst blow of all. With this training and having obtained the best overall score in the course, he is trying to get a transfer to another prison where they are rebuilding the entire place. They want prisoner workers to do the work. His parole officer will not support him for that as she said that she wants him to stay there for at least another two years just to do time. So, here we go again. This time he will once again have to go to administration for results. Why can they not help guys get out to support themselves?

Taxpayers are blind to the fact that it costs in the neighbourhood of $100 000.00 to keep a man in prison for one year. More if health issues are present. these guys should be out, earning their own keep. Paying taxes like the rest of us. Learning how to live with other people without resorting to crime. Some, in fact, many, would never go back to crime if they had job skills.

Now, Derik has served nearly twice what the other boy served. He will not confess because he is innocent. I used to tell my kids to always be honest. Now I suspect that is a mistake. No one else is honest.

Canadian injustice

Elouise
skype: coach_elouise
email: rascal60@shaw.ca

Who cares for the prisoners?

2010-02-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Well the same things keep happening over and over again. To my followers who say they are tired of hearing about Derik and the things he has to go through, I say listen and learn. There are many things in Canada's prison system that need changing.

Derik has finally completed the first year carpentry training that he transferred to William Head prison to take. It took 8 months to get into the program because his Internal Parole Officer had decided that 16 years was not enough punishment for him. She said he could not get anything from her at all. And to think that all he wanted to do was to get a trade in order to perhaps support a family should he ever get out of that terrible place.

Canadian Correctional Services calls the time spent in those jails rehabilitation time. Not much actual rehabilitation takes place from the service end of things. Rehabilitation occurs when the prisoners themselves decide they want another attempt at a real life. See a few of my earlier posts for more on this topic.

Derik has been trying to do several things while in those institutions. He has been trying to prove his innocence of the crime. So far, nothing has come from that, but the UBC Law School students are still working on it.

He has been trying to stay away from the very large drug culture inside those institutions. So far, he has been successful at that. He has even been able to help a couple of others stop the horrible circle of getting high, scoring another hit and getting high. It is a tough road. Drugs are much more easily obtainable inside than on the street. They are also a lot cheaper. The institutions don't appear to be able to stop the inflow. They only check visitors, not staff. Way more comes in through staff than through visitors. Even the prisons on lockdown don't have a shortage of drugs with no visitors coming in at all.

He has been trying to obtain some sort of training that he can use to find work if he is ever released. To that end, it took him nearly 5 years to get some cooperation from the officials in charge to get his first year apprenticeship for carpentry. Now he is employable. He has a Framer's ticket, a forklift ticket, and experience with concrete foundations. He has installed and removed windows and doors and done some roofing.

He has been trying to obtain escorted passes outside of the institution. He wants to visit his neice and nephew in their own home, not in a prison. He wants to get a job and earn some money so he can get out of prison and have a place to go. He wants to get passes to take more courses towards his carpentry. Now that he has finally been able to obtain some education towards that end, his Internal Parole Officer, who did not support him for the course, is refusing to support him for any sort of passes, work release, education, or transfer to another institution for at least another 2 years.

Why? 19 years is still not long enough punishment. His crime? He refuses to admit guilt and confess to something that he did not do. He was not there. He has support from other guards, other parole officers, other staff, but without the ok of this particular bitch, he cannot do anything or go anywhere. His sentence was for 10 years until parole eligibility. Many people outside the system think that means he would serve 10 years and be out. Boy are they wrong!! That is not how it works for those who disagree with something. Derik will not confess to something he is innocent of, so he remains.

Please help by writing to the Minister of Public Safety in our federal government to urge prison reform. Training and release is their mandate, but it is not what they are doing.

Minister of Public Safety,
Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada K1A 0P9

For more of Derik's story, check out http://www.canadianinjustice.com

or contact me
Elouise
skype: coach_elouise
email: lordelouise@gmail.com

We are here for a reason

2010-01-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

Having a happy life is easier than you might think. I have made the decision after listening to the Dali Lama that it is up to me to have a happy life. So How do I do that? I have been thinking on it and trying some new things to see what works.

First, I discussed this with my family. All of them agreed that looking outside myself for happiness is not the way to go. Happiness is always inside you. You can be in very happy situations and surrounded by very happy people and still not feel happy within yourself. Only you can change what you feel inside yourself.

Secondly, I spoke with my friends about this. For the past few weeks, the topic has come up in many conversations. The final conclusion does not change though. We have all come to an agreement. Happiness is something you can control. How is up to each person and situation, but it is under your own control. Where do I go from here?

I have been looking at my own thought patterns. What thoughts come to my mind and how I treat them. Upon realizing that not all my thoughts are positive in outlook, actually many are quite negative, it has become important to me and my happiness to learn to control them. It is much more difficult that I expected. I suppose the habits of 62 years of life on this earth in this lifetime has ingrained some negative ideas firmly enough to make them difficult to remove. Now comes the work.

Fortunately, I have some great friends who are helping me to learn this. I have found great resources here for learning. Check out this site! The amount of knowledge to be found there is huge!

Wolfpac1

2009-09-04T14:57:00.001-07:00

Once you start getting followers from http://followe.rs/uS, then upgrade to a paid account to earn even more money

Regarding Colin Thatcher

2009-09-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

This video is quite funny, making fun of the prison. But on the more serious side, we have the case of Colin Thatcher. Who is he? A former premier of the Province of Saskatchewan, in Canada.

Colin Thatcher, being a politician, became a media target when his former wife was found murdered. He was blamed, of course, since the relationship had become quite sour. Throughout his trial and his appeals, Thatcher has steadfastly maintained his innocence, which he admits is probably the reason he was not paroled until late 2006.

Sounds a little familiar doesn't it? Derik has also maintined his innocence for over 17 years now. He also cannot get parole. He also refused to confess to a crime he did not do. At least, in Colin Thatcher's case, there was some evidence, circumstantial as it was, that allowed the police to believe they may have been correct. Derik's case shows nothing like that at all.

I am looking forward to reading the book Colin has written about his wrongful conviction. I am expecting some very similar things between the investigation in that case and the investigation in Derik's case. A substantial lack of physical evidence, police coercion of witnesses, police fabrication of evidence, crown hiding evidence which could have helped the defense, and more.

This is yet another nail in the coffin of the laws of Canada in relaion to appeals on wrongful convictions. Once again, the case is made that Canada needs to take a page from Great Britain. We need to have an independent group look into these cases of potential wrongful convictions. We can go back many years and look at cases that have been proven to be wrong. The pattern is unmistakeable.

The largest issue by far has to be the appeals to the Minister of Justice. The entire process of appeal there is contaminated by the fact that the Minister is the overall boss of the entire process of evidence gathering, holding trials, and holding appeals. Despite the laws of Canada, the Minister can override any evidence of wrongful conviction and refuse to allow a closer look. Even when a closer look is made, the Minister can choose to overlook any mistakes found and hold the verdict. This system is about as fair as asking the dog who chases the cat to decide if chasing the cat is an ok thing to do.

There is something else in common between these two men. Neither Colin Thatcher nor Derik Lord has been abl to gain parole from the prison system because of their maintaining their innocence. In both cases, parole officers employed by the prison demanded a confession, an accouting for the crime, an apology for committing the crime, or some other detailing of the crime. This is wrong in more was than one. The issue that I have with this process is that Canada is a signatory to the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. Canada has agreed to this Body of Principles.

Principle 21

It shall be prohibited to take undue advantage of the situation of a detained or imprisoned person for the purpose of compelling him to confess, to incriminate himself otherwise or to testify against any other person.

Forcing a confesion before allowing the prisoner to apply for Parole violates this fundamental principle. Forcing a confession to gain support for any sort of release is also a gross violation of this fundamental principle.

If you want more details, check out the website:

Please write to the Minister of Justice, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A1

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com
http://twitter.com/coachelouise

2009-08-31T17:25:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-31T11:36:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-31T10:25:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-28T18:09:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-28T09:38:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-27T15:35:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-27T15:15:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/S83mA get paid for viewing websites. Really pays out too, not a scam.

2009-08-27T15:01:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-27T12:25:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-27T11:34:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/S83mA get paid for viewing websites. Really pays out too, not a scam.

2009-08-27T11:31:00.001-07:00

Get paid just for reading emails! http://ping.fm/sGVU5

2009-08-27T11:30:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-26T21:56:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-26T20:56:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-26T17:22:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-26T16:22:00.001-07:00

This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-26T14:57:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-26T13:52:00.001-07:00

This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-26T11:49:00.001-07:00

A B C it's easy as 1 2 3, A B C 1 2 3 SIGN UP NOW AND FOLLOW ME >> http://followe.rs/uS IT'S FREE

2009-08-26T10:35:00.001-07:00

This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-25T22:36:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-25T18:58:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-20T22:55:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-20T20:27:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-20T20:05:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-20T14:40:00.001-07:00

This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-20T13:58:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-20T09:46:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/k6Ifx see your own featured web page

2009-08-20T09:29:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-19T19:17:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-19T18:49:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to make money? try this! http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-19T17:34:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to have followers? Do you like making money? get paid every Friday. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-19T17:24:00.001-07:00

Do you tweet? Do you like to make money? combine both right here http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-13T18:18:00.001-07:00

Hello, can you please help me to get 1 million sign ups http://followe.rs/uS I need you. Bless you and Thank you. hugs

2009-08-13T14:53:00.001-07:00

I was skeptical at first but seeing is believing. Friday is Happy Day because PAYPAL tells me it's PayDay http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-13T14:22:00.001-07:00

A B C it's easy as 1 2 3, A B C 1 2 3 SIGN UP NOW AND FOLLOW ME >> http://followe.rs/uS IT'S FREE

2009-08-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

try followe.rs.com/uS. You will get lots more followers and from them, you can earn even more money

2009-08-12T23:09:00.001-07:00

This is awesome This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-12T21:16:00.001-07:00

501 new followers in less than 1 week. http://ping.fm/uqmAM

2009-08-12T19:45:00.001-07:00

This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-12T18:56:00.001-07:00

http://followe.rs/uS this won't cost you anything to sign. Just set and forget.

2009-08-12T15:51:00.001-07:00

I just joined! http://followe.rs/uS! The Name Says it all! Get Followe.rs on Autopilot!!! IT'S AWESOME!!

2009-08-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

If you would like to sign up for http://followe.rs/uS I can invite you to a group I started in Skype to get together with other members. You can share ideas for promotion and compare notes on how you are doing. If you have resources to share please pass the links in private with each other. So come join us. Just contact me and let me know you signed up and I'll add you to the room.

Join "The Followe.rs" group on Skype to get help promoting, invite your people and get more paid people.

2009-08-11T21:43:00.001-07:00

This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-11T21:42:00.001-07:00

2009-08-11T21:38:00.001-07:00

Easier than you think to make videos. http://ping.fm/aMs28

2009-08-11T20:50:00.001-07:00

This is awesome This is exciting, I'm earning $$$$ with twitter, while finding friends http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-11T18:10:00.001-07:00

Join "The Followe.rs" group on Skype to get help promoting, invite your people and get more paid people.

I'm getting followers everyday from this Free service. http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-10T23:32:00.001-07:00

Do you use Twitter? Do you like money? Do you wnat more followers? http://followe.rs/uS

2009-08-10T23:29:00.001-07:00

I just found a wonderful place to make money online http://bit.ly/YfNnk

Again

2009-08-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Just browsing around this morning and I checked a site I had not read in a while. On it I found some comments about Derik's case that I had not read before. I was especially intrigued by the new posts by Derik's fiancee, Jasminda. I know she could write, but was suprised by her eloquence in this one! Way to go Jasminda! Here is the blog if you would like to read what she says:

http://closer-look.blogspot.com/2007/01/derik-lords-long-wait-jan.html

It is extremely hard in Canada to get a wrongful convicton overturned. We may never be able to do that.

My biggest issue with the system of incarceration we have here is the lack of parole availability. Our Parole Board states over and over that he will not see the outside of a prison without confessing to the crime. That volates the Criminal Code of Canada, is against the National Parole Board's own policies, flies in the face of the agreements Canada has signed with other countries under the United Nations umbrella, and is just not fair.

Derik, because he has family and friends who support him, has been able to stay away from the bad things that happen in our prisons on a regular basis. For example, he has not started using drugs, which are so readily available inside our prisons. Other prisoners have told me drugs are not only more avalable, they are cheaper than on the street. Drugs are the biggest problem inside our prisons. Management tries many things to solve the issue, but the roadblocks set up by the Guard's Union keep the measures from being more effective. Sure searching visitors catches some of the drugs being brought in, but not searching the gym bags and other containers brought in by guards gives a large avenue of importation that is not being closed off.

The only way to stop that door is to remove guards from the front entrances and replace them with a different security force such as the Commissionaires. That way, union members are not searching other union members. It would close a very large portal for getting contraband into the prisons.

The lack of family support becomes more apparent when we attend social events in the prisons. I have been approached by many prisoners who have not seen any family members or friends since being incarcerated. There are many reasons for this, but from what I have seen, visiting is not encouraged by the system. Although they give mouth to a great policy and openness for visiting, in actual practice, it does not happen easily. My husband has not seen his son for nearly 3 years now because they do not like his words. He writes letters to upper anagement noting obvious, glaring errors in the functioning of the visitng process. Because he embarrasses them, he is not allowed to visit. Derik has even been told to shut his father up and he might get parole! What a farce!

I can't help everyone, but I have supported some men who finally were able to gain parole. All except one have stayed out because they had someone to talk to outside of the prison environment. Someone who could give advice, support ( not with money) and just be friendly. These men are doing fine now. workng, supporting themselves and in some cases, their families, participating in outreach activties in the prisons, and more. Many more helpful people are needed in order to reduce Canada's growing prison population. Our Federal Government and its policies make it a very hard place to be.

http://www.canadianinjustice.com

Please write our Prime Minister
Stephen HARPER
Office of the Prime Minister of Canada,
Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa,
Ontario,
Canada

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com

Troubled Waters

2009-07-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

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

Contact me or leave a comment.
Don't be afraid to leave your name. I will not come after you. Anonymous comments do not lead to further discussion; it always stops there it seems.

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com
http://twitter.com/coachelouise

The cost of wrongful convictions

2009-06-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Canada has its share of trials that go wrong. Occasionally the wrong people are found guilty of grievous criminal acts.

WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
Some of the Canadians who have been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted

STEVEN TRUSCOTT

Truscott, 14 at the time, was charged with the rape and killing of 12-year-old Lynne Harper in 1959. He was sentenced to hang, but instead spent 10 years in prison. In 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal called his incarceration and the subsequent 40 years of being labelled as Ms. Harper's killer "a miscarriage of justice." He was to receive $6.5-million in compensation.

DAVID MILGAARD

Found guilty of the 1969 murder of Gail Miller. Spent 23 years in prison. Received $10-million in compensation, including $750,000 payment to his mother.

THOMAS SOPHONOW

Found guilty of the murder of a 16-year-old Winnipeg waitress. Spent four years in jail before being freed in 1985. Received $2.5-million in compensation.

DONALD MARSHALL JR.

Found guilty of the 1971 murder of acquaintance Sandy Seale, who was actually killed in a robbery attempt. Spent 11 years in prison before being acquitted. Received a lifetime pension of $1.5-million.

CLAYTON JOHNSON

Found guilty in 1993 of murdering his wife when she had actually fallen down the stairs. Spent five years in prison before the conviction was overturned. Received $2.5-million.

RANDY DRUKEN

Found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in 1993. Spent nearly six years in prison before a jailhouse informant recanted his testimony. DNA evidence later implicated his brother. Received $2.1-million.

GUY PAUL MORIN

Tried for the 1984 murder of nine-year-old neighbour. Released in 1986, retried in 1992. Finally cleared in 1995 based on DNA evidence. Received $1.2-million in compensation.

JASON DIX

Convicted of murder in 1994 deaths of two Edmonton-area factory workers. Spent 22 months in jail before charges dismissed, based on case mismanagement by RCMP. Awarded nearly $765,000 damages.

RONALD DALTON

Charged with strangling his wife in 1988 and spent almost nine years in a Newfoundland jail. A retrial in 2000 found him not guilty. Paid $750,000 in compensation.

MOST RECENTLY, THE CASE OF IVAN HENRY

Ivan Henry already had a criminal history in 1983, a previous conviction for attempted rape. He also had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. According to a court-appointed psychiatrist, he was psychotic and suffered paranoid delusions.

Clearly, there was no advantage for him to defend himself on multiple sex charges in B. C. Supreme Court. But he did and despite a lack of reliable evidence -- and a host of other troublesome factors, unacknowledged at his trial but surfacing now -- Henry was convicted by a jury on three counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and five of indecent assault.

A judge declared him a dangerous offender, which meant he might never experience freedom again.

He has spent the past 26 years in prison for crimes he has always maintained he did not commit.

Now released on bail, pending a decision on whether or not he will be re-tried, Ivan Henry has to learn how to live in a much changed world. Based on previous settlements for overturned convictions, he could easily be a recipient of several millions of dollars to smooth the way.

Would it not be more cost effective to monitor convictions with issues able to be reviewed by a totally separate group such as the Criminal Case Review Commission in England, one which is independent of police and prosecution, and on that will not cost the wrongfully convicted person hundreds of thousnds of dollars in lawyer fees?

How little we think

2009-06-17T14:59:00.001-07:00

I was thinking this morning about how the littlest thing can become a huge roadblock if we just ignore it.

A friend, LG, had the engine in his truck blow up and leave him stranded in the bush. He is a pensioner, living on a restricted income, so he does whatever he can to increase his paltry earnings. One of those things is to buy a truckload of potatoes and vegetables and then bag and resell them for some extra money. Unfortunately, that does not cover the cost of a new truck or even a new motor for an old one.

It was really hot that day. He was worried that his vegetables would become spoiled quickly, so he started to walk out. after a couple of hours walking, he suffered a heat stroke and fell into the ditch. That cooled him off enough to save his life.
Long story short, he made it to Hope that evening.

He stayed with a friend overnight, then purchased an alternator and battery for his old truck believing that would get it back on the road again. Then he hitched and walked back to his truck.

It turned out to be just a temporary fix, however, but at least this time he was on the main road, not away out in the bush. He hitched to a mechanic's place that he knew in Hope and had the fellow tow his truck in and have a look at the problem. Turns out the engine was beyond repair. The estimated cost of fixing the truck would be over $2500. He did not have that much!

He then went across to the local car dealership. There was an older truck similar to his own, the price was $2000. Better than repairing the old one. However, that was still too much money for him to pay. He then arranged for a test drive, using a dealer plate to cover him for insurance and proceeded to his bank to arrange a loan to pay for it.

He did not get the loan. Then the race was on! going from one debtor to another, he was trying to collect from everyone who owed him for potatoes or whatever else to collect enough for the truck. He didn't make it. So, he kept the truck overnight.
Meantime, the police were notified and he was now a fugitive without realizing it. It was 3 more days before he went back to the dealership to try again to purchase the truck. Imagine his surprise when he was arrested for theft and possession of stolen property.

Ignoring the fact that what you are doing could be conceived as wrong, does not make it right. He truly believed all he had to do was explain and he would be fine. Not quite that easy.

Brought me back to a time about 17 years ago when I told my son, Derik, that he would not go to prison for a crime he did not do as there would be no physical evidence to put him there. Boy was I wrong!

He was arrested, tried and sentenced to life in prison despite the fact it was admitted in court that there was no physical evidence to tie him to the scene. There were no eye witnesses, no hair was found, no fingerprints, nothing that could put him there. There were footprints, fibers, etc at the scene, but since they did not match Derik's they were mentioned briefly and ignored.

At the end of it all, one small thing like making a purchase in a store in a different city would have exonerated him, but he bought nothing, just shopped around.

So now, because he did not make a purchase, he spent 17 years in prison so far for a crime he did not commit because he had no proof that he was elsewhere. LG will get away with stealing a truck because he can claim senility, despite the fact he brought the truck back after using it on the dealer plate for nearly a week.

Where is the fairness?

http://canadianinjustice.com
http://coacheouise.com

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca

Visiting a Prison

2009-06-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

You know, I have been visiting my son in various prisons for 17 years now. It seems like forever, but it is only half of his life. The other half was spent with me and the rest of the family at home.

Some things never change.

Visiting at a prison is one of those things. Firstly, you had better make sure your booking for the visit was properly recorded, otherwise, you will not get in no matter how far you have come.

When we were still living in Victoria, I made an appointment to visit Derik at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford. The visiting time started at 1 pm for a Saturday visit. At the same time, I booked for my then 72 year old mother to come with me.

I was up at 5:30 am to ensure I would be on the first ferry from Victoria, at 7 am. I had left my car at the Boundary Bay Airport and taken the bus back to the ferry last time, so I did not have the additional cost of the parking or of the fare for bringing the car both ways on the ferry. I arrived at my car around 9:30 am by bus and a nice walk. Then I went into Vancouver to pick up my mother. We could only visit for about a half hour in order to get out to Abbotsford in time for the visit.

1:00 pm. We arrived at the prison. We had to wait outside for 15 minutes while the guards got ready to process visitors, an inconvenience that usually took 10 to 15 minutes away from our visit. Then, while being processed (sounds like cattle) I was told that I could go in, but not my mother as she had to make a separate phone call to book her own visit even though without me she would not have gotten there!

What a surprise. We had only been doing this same procedure for two and a half years. Policy change. No notification, no warning, suddenly we had to make two separate long distance calls to be able to visit Derik together.

My mother was quite a woman. She told me to go visit as I had come so far. She would keep herself amused watching the front entry guards play card games on their computers. She thought it was quite funny that they could not find anything else to do to us, so they split us up. I was angry, and so was Derik.

He put in a grievance about it and within 3 months, quick by Canadian Government standards, I had a letter giving me permission to book visits for my mother

Sounds like the end of the issue doesn't it? Now, he is at William Head Institution near Victoria, a minimum security institution, and we have had to make 3 phone calls for 3 visitors to visit him last weekend. Some things never change.

http://www.canadianinjustice.com

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca

Should prisoners get mail?

2009-06-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Not only are telephones not free, but it can be difficult to get in touch too. A friend of mine from Algeria sent my son a letter a couple of months ago. The letter has not yet arrived to Derik.

That did not upset me too much at first, but then I received an email from the Innocence Project at UBC asking why Derik had not responded to their last 3 letters.
On Sunday. I asked Derik if he had received their letters. He said no that he only know what I had told him from the letters we had received. Unfortunately, our letters do not contain the information as to what they have done and are doing on Derik's case. Our letters also do have the Questions that they require answers to.

These letters are legal mail and cannot be held back. The letters were written in February, March and April of this year. It is now June. I called the institution, and was told that someone would check into it and call me back. At the same time, I requested that they pass a message to Derik to call home. This was at 10 am.

By noon, I had not heard anything, so I called the Deputy Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada in Abbotsford. Could not speak to her, of course, but her assistant did take note of my concerns and said someone from William Head would contact me soon.

Around 7 pm, Derik called thinking some sort of emergency was going on since I rarely use that method of getting hold of him. I said no emergence, just informed him of the calls I had made. Also passed along the message that the Innocence project has been waiting for a reply. He told me that there were 3 letters waiting for him to pick up after the call. As I found out, those were the 3 letters that had not been delivered to him.

What really bothers me is that if we were to somehow interfere with mail delivery, we could get up to 14 years in prison. It seems they can do it without penalty. 4 months to deliver a letter is absolutely absurd. the letters came from Vancouver. they had to travel a total distance of 40 km to get to him. Funny how they all showed up on the same day, after I had made a call to Regional Headquarters!

Unfortunately the one from Algeria still has not turned up.

My letters take two days to get to the institution, but usually another week to get to him. but legal mail is supposed to be delivered the day that it arrives, unopened. My letters have to be opened for security reasons. It only takes extra time if they want to photocopy them or read them first.

Reminds me of an incident about 14 years ago. A staff member at Matsqui's visiting and correspondence location was suspended after taking mail home to read. The only way she was caught doing that was that she became ill and the mail she had at home did not get back to the institution for a few days. Someone had noticed it was missing.

Surprisingly, she was not fired for interfering with the mail. had it been me, I would now be in prison! Different laws for different folks.

To learn more, click here.

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca

telephones are not free!

2009-05-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately not enough of us are living by this. I know that the Corectional Service of Canada is not following any of the suggestions here.

I just received this month's phone bill. nearly $300.00!

It is only around the 30 dollar mark to have a Telus phone line and us it locally. But, When you have a loved one in prison, there is no economical phone service. At least not here in the west. Derik can only phone us collect. There is minimum connection fee of $1.75. Now if that was it, we could afford it. But, the calls can only be made to another Telus number. That is where the rest of my telephone ill comes from. 47 cents a minute is gouging! I have another service, WestCoast Teltech, which would not ave any long distance charges on it ecause it is a local Victoria number. Unfortunately, Telus will not allow the call to go to that number. $270.00 for 4 phone calls in one month is not reasonable.

Since deregulation of the telephone service providers, the costs have increased by 1300% This is nothing short of holding prisoners hostage. Most prisoners families are in low income groups. Exhorbitant phone bills prevent the maintenance of family ties, community involvement, and rehabilitation. It places undue hardship on the families at a time when support is needed most.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. ~ Lewis B. Smedes Most of us carry around anger, resentment, jealousy, or some other negative emotion directed to other...

So where is this anger generated by the unfair telephone system being directed? The telephone company is too hard to be angry with, you need the service to communicate. So, the anger is directed at the powers that be in the prisons. To the prisoner and his family, this is where the restrictions appear to be coming from. This does not lead towards the rehabilitation that is preached by the system. Some will lash out somehow, and the angrier they are, the more damaging the lashing.

It is more than enough punishment to be locked up. no more!

Please write to Canada's Prime Mnister and the Minister of Justice at Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A1

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca

http://www.canadianinjustice.com

American injustice.

2009-05-09T15:29:00.001-07:00

When I was younger, I listened a lot to Johnny Cash. I loved his gravely voice. Often times the songs he wrote and sang were sad. This was one I liked.

But that was before my son went to prison for a crime he did not commit. Now it is harder to listen to because of the life my son has had for the past 17 years. He was arrested at the young age of 17, and has been inside the prison since he was 19. He has been in Solitary confinement, and in general population. He has witnessed things that no one should ever have to see. Murders, drug overdoses, stabbings, suicides, and the list goes on.

He has been in a dark place for a very long time. Talk about missing someone, he has missed the birth of his neice; his girlfriend could not take the prison, so she stopped visiting. Now he is so far from home, it is difficult for me to visit.

A very dear friend sent me a link to a website that brought out a strong sense of Deja Vue.

Please help this man to clear himself and put the justice system right. He is a non violent man with no past criminal record who has been wrongfully convicted by the federal justice system. He was convicted solely on circumstantial evidence and nothing was proven during trial. The judge made this statement herself during sentencing.

There is, however, evidence to show that another person closely involved with Daniel (defendant) was responsible. The case was not properly investigated. Besides that - important evidence was destroyed at the police station before the FBI ever became involved. This evidence could have cleared Daniel of all charges had it not been destroyed forever by the police department.

All we ask is for a new trial and new investigation into this case. Why keep someone in prison for a crime they did not commit and allow the guilty party to walk free? Please help us! Even if Daniel were pardoned or his sentence commuted, he still plans on proving his innocence. It is a matter of principle. If you would like more information about this case please email me at blacksgeneralstore@gmail.com

I am Daniel's outside contact. If you want to help and need more details I would be happy to speak with you after initial email contact.
Thank for reading this.
Jonathan

Unless he gets the chance to prove his innocence, the rest of his life is ruined and for a crime he did not commit.

The similarities to my son's case are astounding.

http://criminaljustice.change.org/actions/view/help_for_a_wrongfully_convicted_man

http://www.canadianinjustice.com

compare them.

If you feel compelled to help, please write letters to the Prime Minister of Canada, at Parliament Buildings, 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A2

Also visit the young man's site in the USA and add your signature to his petition.

2009-05-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful, sunny day here in Chilliwack. My heart still has an ache in to for Derik

I remember so many times telling him you cannot be convicted of a crime if you were not there. They cannot convict without any physical evidence. I have so painfully learned that is not true. You CAN be convicted without any physical evidence to put you on a crime scene. It happened to Derik.

All you need is the following:

1. a Judge who is biased and hates teenaged boys with a passion, someone like the late Thomas Fisher.

2 police officers who are not experienced in criminal investigations, such as the Delta Police.

3. incompetent police officers in charge ofkeeping case files straight, such as the Delta Police.

4. a prosecutor who is out to win at all costs, including not disclosing evidence supporting the accused, misplacing evidence, using fear tactics to witnesses, and generally obfuscating things in court.

5. a defense lawyer whose inexperience and arrogance lead him to believe he is next to God and the system is fair.

There were more items leading to this wrongful conviction, but it happened. It happened in Canada. Canada's justice system is flawed as is any system devised by man.

I am waiting for the sunny day when we finally can get at the truth.

Conversation

2009-04-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

I went to listen to the annual multicultural lecture at the Chan Theatre at University of British Columbia last night. It was very interesting for me being a Canadian. My ancesters were among the very first to settle this great country. I always wondered why Canada's relations with its Aboriginal peoples was so much better than our neighbours.

Our neighbours and many other countries settled the same way treated Aboriginals like they were the interlopers. Aboriginals were pushed out of the way for immigrants to take the land and resources. Maybe not right away, but as soon as the European settlers became numerous enough to survive without help, they did so.

Canada's early settlers would not have survived their first winter without the help of the Aboriginal peoples in the area. That they did survive is a testiment to them, and a testiment to the Aboriginal peoples who taught them what was safe to eat, how to make a shelter from the cold, and so much more. Canada began right off the hop with a dialogue, a conversation with the native peoples.

Unfortunately, that dialogue no longer is helping the survival of Canada. My son, Derik Lord, is Metis. One of the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Since he has been in prison for a wrongful conviction, I have learned many things about the ongoing conversations in Canada.

I have discovered that there is a very large discrepancy between the percentage of European descent prisoners and Aboriginal ones. White prisoners get out of prison faster, get programs to help them faster, and are generally better treated than aboriginals. Aboriginal prisoners are kept in prisons longer, denied parole much more often, treated like scum and not given programs that will help them.

The Correctional Investigator for the Correctional Service of Canada has been pointing these facts out to the government and to the citizens of Canada for more than 20 years. So what has changed?

The Correctionsl Service of Canada now says they have special programs for Aboriginal prisoners. Just try to get into one of them! Derik has tried many times and always gets turned down as not needing the programs. He finally gave up.

He was convicted with another young man at the same trial and they both received the same sentence. Life - 10 means a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years. The other young man, white, got out at his 10 year eligibility. One parole hearing is all it took. Derik, Aboriginal, has now been in for 17 years, with 5 separate parole hearings all turning him down for release. Is this system fair? I think not.

It is good to talk about the conversations between the various poeples who made Canada what it is today, but where are the conversations when it comes to punishment?

The Correctional Service of Canada has a mandate to get its prisoners back out of prison, to resume a normal life outside the bars without criminal activity. It is supposed to be concerned with correcting, not punishing. After this long time, it is no longer in a correcting mindset, it is in a punishment mode. Derik has maintained his innocence all these years. The fact that he has not confessed should not be used to keep him in prison forever, but it is happening. He has been told, orally and in writing, and I have been told, orally and in writing, that if he would just confess, he would get parole. They make it sound like it would be that easy. It is not.

I don't believe that one bit. If he suddenly changed and said he did it, then they would just a quickly put him in line for all those programs designed to correct his behaviour. I feel very strongly that those programs would make it worse for him, not better. He will not learn what he should not do, but what he should have done. He already knows what he should not do and one of those things is he should not lie.

I am very proud of the man my son has become despite the events that have brought him to this day. He is a caring man. He volunteered for many years as a peer counsellor for other prisoners, helping them in many ways. I know he has saved marriages, prevented suicides, prevented murders and helped some kick their drug habits. His strength shows in the fact that he did not get involved with the drugs which are rampant within Canada's prisons.

Where is the conversation that will get him released? No one on his case management team will speak to me now.

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype elouise.lord
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca

http://www.canadianinjustice.com for more of the story.

Evidence Really Can Lie

2009-04-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Beautiful pictures and calming music, Enya has the ability to soothe. The only issue is that sometimes one cannot be soothed.

The sloppiness of the Delta police investigation into the murders of Doris Leatherbarrow and Sharon Huenemann, which led to the arrest and convicton of the 3 teenage boys, is one of those things that will not let one be soothed. It was absolutely dreadful! The police coerced witnesses, made up evidence, misplaced evidence, lost evidence, hid evidence and mishandled the entire case.

The investigation of this terrible crime began as most do with the interviewing of family and neighbours.

In the police reports of the follow-up, Ralph Huenemann did not appear to be upset or surprised with the news brought to him by Saanich police officers. It had been noted that he showed "absolutely no remorse and did not appear to be upset with the news we brought." He was co-operative, offering to help by attending at Delta to speak to the police there and assist them in any way he could. Darren, however, was very upset. It is noted that he showed the "usual reactions and was very upset. "

On October 6, 1990, Saanich police also interviewed Amanda Cousins at her home in Victoria. Other than a two hour discrepancy between when she said that Ralph got home and when Ralph said that he got home, Amanda's story corroborated the story that Darren would tell about where he was that night. Amanda says that Darren picked her up about six-thirty, and that Ralph came home about 7 or 7:15. Ralph said that Darren and Amanda were there when he got home about 5 p.m.

Amanda told about picking up Derik and David downtown about 8 pm and driving around for a while, both in the downtown area, and in areas where Darren's parents were looking to buy a house. She tells of bringing David to Derik's house to pick up his bike, then driving around a while longer with Derik until around 10pm.

On October 6, 1990, in Delta, Darren Huenemann also gave a statement to police. This statement bears mostly on items of value which were or should have been in the house at the time. In it he also gave details of his mother's and his grandmother's wills as he knew them. This statement was hand written by detective Bill Jackson in Delta.

On October 7, the police continued investigating through the interviewing of neighbours. Two boys, the May boys who lived across the street, gave statements to the police describing two young men they had seen wandering around apparently lost on the evening of October 5, at around 6:30 pm. The descriptions which they gave were not closey linked to Derik and David, and actually had many features not consistent with the appearance of either of them. Both described men about 6 feet tall and white, about 20 or 21 years old. Greg May said that both men wore dark leather jackets. Neither Derik or David are that height. Neither could have passed for 20 or older. Derik had been asked for proof of age more than once at a movie theater showing a movie restricted to 17 or over. Neither Derik or Dave was wearing a leather jacket. At the time, Derik did not own a leather jacket, his jacket was a tan and white cotton one. I don't know about David Muir as I did not see him often. The only jacket I remember seeing him wearing was a jean jacket.

Charles Smith stated that he had seen one of the ladies inside the white car belonging to Mrs. Leatherbarrow at around 7:30 that Friday evening while he was closing his curtains. He thought that it had been Sharon Huenemann. He lived in a corner house across from the Leatherbarrow residence and had a clear view of the driveway and front of the house from his kitchen.

Two taxi drivers described passengers that they had picked up in Tsawwassen. One described a pair of young men that had called for a taxi from the ferry terminal around 5 p.m., and the other described two men he picked up at the mall and took to the ferry terminal around 6:30 or 6:45. The descriptions were sketchy, and inconclusive.

Photo lineups with the May boys and the taxi drivers were not done until November 7, quite a length of time later. None of the identifications were for certain. All of the photos that were pointed out were described as "sort of looks like one", or "someone like him", or one had a similar haircut, or other similar phrasing. Many people would not take such sketchy possibilities as certain and irrefutable evidence, but it appears that Delta police officers do.

Derik was interviewed at our home on October 16. At that time, he told police of his whereabouts and the whereabouts of Darren as he knew them. Derik described the evening as it went quite uneventfully in Victoria. This statement corroborated an earlier one given by Amanda Cousins, and again was corroborated by the statement of Amanda Cousins dated November 16, 1990, (and dated again as typed January 9, 1990).

In yet another statement a half hour later that same evening, Amanda Cousins again says that the boys, Derik and David were picked up downtown by her and Darren at about 8:30 p.m. on October 5. One might question why two statements were taken about a half hour apart by the police.

The way that Derik was interviewed on October 16, 1990, upset some neighborhood children, especially a seven year old girl who had been playing with Derik and Dawn (my younger daughter) and a couple of other young children in the back yard. I complained to the Saanich Police about the handling of the interview.

On November 6, 1990, Sgt. Gordon Tregear, representing the Saanich police, and Detective Wiliam Jackson, representing the Delta police, came to our house to speak to Dave (my husband) and I about the method used to question Derik. In answer to the complaint I had made, they said that it was normal procedure to put someone in the car to talk to him and not to go into the house as they had been invited to do by Derik. Apparently, it was also normal procedure to question children without at least one of the parents being present. During the hour or so that they were here, the police officers spent very little time explaining the events upon which the complaint was based. Most of this time was spent telling us all about the crime scene, all the gory details of the murders and the messing up of the house. Everything from the size of the footprints found in the house to the violence of the scene. They told us about the use of common kitchen rubber gloves, kitchen knives to cut the throats of the victims, the size 10 men's tennis shoe footprint that was clear enough to photograph, both women had been hit with a bar of some sort, money was taken, traveler’s cheques were taken, no jewelry was taken, purses were dumped out, the key once hidden outside was found inside, there were four pieces of lasagna, there were beets in a pot on the stove, there were beans in another pot on the stove, and the room was very hot, making time of death difficult to determine. They said that there was one little detail that they were keeping secret in order to catch the criminal. We found out what that one was a couple of days later from Ralph Huenemann. Ralph told us about the cloths over their faces. Quite a bit of effort was put into trying to convince me to talk to Darren about taking a lie detector test to prove his innocence.

By November 16, it had become obvious that the police investigation was centering only on the three boys and not in any other direction. The boys had noticed that they were being followed everywhere. Derik had been approached at work and brutally questioned about Darren and his relationship with him. He had been accused at work and frightened on more than one occasion. Both phone lines were tapped. Neighbours phoned in to the Saanich police often to complain about strange cars with people not belonging to the neighborhood sitting in them staying for long periods of time in the area. One of Dawn's friends, Stacey, had dropped by to see her, but no one was at home that afternoon. On her way home, she stopped by a brown car parked across the street and down the block a ways and told the two undercover officers sitting in the car that they could go for coffee and doughnuts because no one was home. I really had become a joke with all the kids!

Once it seemed that the investigation was stalling on the boys, Ralph Huenemann suggested that they should be represented by legal counsel. He researched a few firms, then hired the firm of Considine and Lawler. Considine was representing Darren, Lawler was to represent Derik. Ralph was paying the bills for this legal advice. We were invited over to the Huenemann residence at Ten Mile Point to meet with Lawler in November. His advice to us was to remain calm, keeping his phone number handy just in case, and to refuse to take any lie detector tests.

Something very odd happened when we arrived at the Huenemann house to meet Ralph for the first time. While we were waiting for the lawyer, Ralph talked to us for a while about how he had been through this before. His first wife, Joanne, had been murdered and at that time he had been a suspect in her death. He told us that is why he wanted to make sure that the boys both had representation. This had also been offered to the Muirs for David, but they had decided to go with another firm in town.

Later, we discovered that Joanne's death was listed by police as a death from exposure caused in part by use of drugs and alcohol. Her body had been found at a picnic table in a campground in Manning Park. We spoke to the park ranger who had found the body. "It was the strangest thing. She looked like something had struck her and thrown her straight back from the bench." He had never forgotten the way she looked. Fear was etched on her face. Her book was lying open on the table. Her coffee mug, only partly emptied, was still on the table too.

Police reports did not suggest murder.

But Ralph Huenemann had told us that both his wives had been murdered, first Joanne, then Sharon.

Go to our website http://www.canadianinjustice.com to learn more about this very strange set of events.

Now I need to go listen to Enya again so I will be able to sleep tonight.

Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype elouise.lord
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca

I will be back with more on Monday!

Sunshine on my shoulders

2009-04-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

A long time favorite song. I used to sing along to it when my family was whole. I remember so well the day that Derik was arrested. I had been trying to keep him calm for a few weeks by telling him things like: "You were not there, they can't arrest you without some evidence. Don't worry!"

In retrospect, that was a very bad idea.

The two women were murdered on the Thanksgiving long weekend, October 5, 1990. There was a lot of press and media attention because of the size of the estate, over $3 million dollars. Since the husband of the younger victim was a close personal friend of the then Lieutenant Governor of BC, David Lam, there was considerable political pressure on the Delta Police to solve it fast and to leave Ralph Huenemann alone.

http://www.canadianinjustice.com/

I remember the day we learned about the events of October 5/6, 1990. On Sunday, October 7, 1990, Derik was getting ready for work at the local Kmart when a friend of his from school called him with a very strange request. Jack wanted to know if we had a subscription to the Times Colonist newspaper. We did not. Jack then explained that he had received a wierd call from Darren Huenemann telling him that he would not be at school on Tuesday, and that his family had made the front page.

Derik and Darren had known each other at school for a year or so, and had visited occasionally at each other's homes. I knew Darren somewhat. A very nice, usually well dressed young man, always polite to adults, crazy sense of humour. The boys shared an interest in games and music, so they would hang around together at school, sometimes.

My husband went down to the local 7/11 to get a copy of the paper. There it was on the front page. Two gastly murders. Derik was very upset. He told me that Darren must be devastated because he and his mom had a relationship like ours. She wanted to know where he was going, and kept an eye on his activities. He described the relationship between Darren and his mother as close, like ours. Then he cried.

Darren was not available when Derik called him to express his feelings, because he was in Tsawwassen with his step-father, Ralph.

I had met Darren's mother, Sharon, we got along well, but had only met a couple of times. I had never met his grandmother, Doris Leatherbarrow, although Darren had spoken often about her. Seems she had his life and education planned out for him.
All moot now of course! They seemed to be close, too, from what Darren said.

We wondered how it had all come about, but just wanted to try and help Darren if we could. The next couple of months were pretty awful!

This was the beginning of the rest of our lives, never to be the same again.
Checkout the website for more details, and I will be back!

What's up Now?

2009-04-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

A friend sent this video to me and it made me think about the fight we have been having with Canada's prison system.

http://www.canadianinjustice.com/

Just took another look at the site and realized it has not been updated for a while. It is time to get back to the truth of the matter. It is time to bring the truth out again to the public eye. I am getting tired after seventeen years of arguing and going to court after court to try to gain his release. I need some help.

You could be a prisoner in Canada.

1 to 11/2 percent of prisoners in Canada are innocent.

Check out the American Justice Institute web page on wrongful convictions in Canada and around the world.
That headline is still as true as it was 17 years ago when the whole thing started.

Let's go back and revisit it in the cold light of a new day. Stay wih me for a while and go over it all again. Maybe something will come to you that we can do to get further along with this.

The Trouble with Snow

2009-04-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

I should have known it was going to be a bad day when I left the house I had spent the night at, late for meeting up with prison staff, and with a new route to follow that I had not tried before, and discovered it was snowing!!
So far, every time it has snowed this winter, something has gone awry. This time I was concerned about my son’s parole hearing. That is where I was headed. Following the new route Steven had given me, I actually made it to the appointment with 30 seconds to spare. Despite the blowing snow and the winding twisty road I drove.
Made it safely, so now we wait. The prison staff put us upstairs in the main office building, in the board room, to wait. About a half hour later, Derik's IPO (internal parole officer) Marion Higgins, brought him upstairs to sit with us. We just had a general conversation in which Marion told us a bit of the history behind the place. William Head Institution had first been built as a quarantine area for new immigrants from the Orient. Many Chinese and Japanese immigrants did not make it out of there. Those who were or became ill and died are buried in a corner of the property that is maintained as a Canadian Heritage site by the Federal Government. I felt it would be very interesting to take a walk around there, but this was not the day.
The prison began as a minimum security camp with no fences, then became medium security wit a three roll barbed wire fence cutting it off from the rest of the penninsula. Now, it is a minimum again, but the fence is still there. Parole hearings are a regular occurrence as prisoners serving long sentences, like Derik, has the right to have one every 2 years once they reach a minimum length of time served. For Derik, that time was 10 years. He has now been in prison for 17 years, but has not gained any release yet. We were hoping for something this time, but not really expecting anything like full parole.
Because the prison is located on the tip of a penninsula, we walked down to the visiting room, where the hearing was being held, in the rain, not snow. The 3 members of the board were already seated. The assistant got the IPO from Derik's previous institution on the phone and then the members of the press (6) and the relatives of the victims (8) were brought in and seated behind us. We had to face the board, his current IPO sitting with us, and were not permitted to turn around to see the people being seated behind us. There was a significant distance between the groups to prevent any possibility of interaction. Derik had pointed out to the prison staff that one of the relatives had physically assaulted me at one of our many court appearances, so that was one reason for the caution, and the larger room than was normally used.
The hearing started as it usually did with the board members wanting to discuss his crime. That part was naturally short as Derik still maintains that he is innocent. Even after such a long time in prison, he will not make up a confession. He is maintaining his innocence while assuring his continued incarceration. The next part was longer. Going back to his childhood, they wanted to know if his father was controlling. One statement they questioned is that I have to call him before I leave the house. I explained later, when I had a chance to speak, that we both did that. In our opinion, it made sense that someone know where you are in case something happened. At the very least, it gives a starting point for a search should someone not make it home. We kept in close touch with each other and with our children for that reason. I am sure some people might call us controlling, but we always knew where our children were and when to expect them home.
The chairperson also appeared to fixate on the fact that, as a boy, he carried a pocket knife. Derik explained that based on his rural upbringing for the first 13 years of his life. Nearly every boy carried a pocket knife in a rural area. You never knew when you might want to whittle a sling shot fork, or cut some binder twine to save an animal's life, or any other emergency fix. I don't think that the city people really understood that.
Once they were done questioning Derik, then it was my turn to speak on his behalf. I tried to give an eloquent testimonial on his progress since going to prison, expecially in the past few years. Derik had ended the questioning telling them about the programs he took, the effort he made to understand his behaviour, the self help books he read and worked through, the issues he had identified on his own and worked through, and the relationship he had been building with his fiancee over the past 9 years. I did an overview of the incarceration as a ping pong type of relationship building. They would tease him with a program and then say he did not fit the profile and yank it away. This happened 14 times. Most times he was screened out because he already had the skills they were trying to teach. For a couple of them, he was screened out as not being violent enough, and not willing to confess to the crime for which he is innocent. Finally, they had to give him one. Ottawa had to override the requirements to get him in there, but Derik worked very hard at getting the most benefit from the program as he could. However, the Parole Board did not believe that it was enough. Following my input, 2 of the relatives read impact statements. One was a very emotional short statement about the love lost when one sister died. The other one was a rant. He told the board that Derik should get out only after he received training to get a job and had the conditions put on him to repay the costs of his imprisonment.
Then Derik had the last word.
We were all ushered out in the reverse order than being ushered in, once again to avoid any contact between the 2 groups of people. The waiting began again. Suddenly, the phone rang and we were once again being summoned to the meeting room. There we got the decision. Day parole denied. Full parole denied.
I requested direction from the board members, and the only response was to continue with making improvements like he had been most recently. Once again, we left, ushered out in groups. We had another half hour visit with Derik and his IPO while the relatives were leaving the grounds. It was a good unwinding session. Both of us were on the verge of tears, relief that it was over and release of the tension.
Stopping just past the prison property, we gane an interview to CBC and GlobalTV news, once again standing in the rain as it changed back into snow. Arriving at the climic where my daughter works, it was now hailing ferociously. And again, following a great dinner with my daughter and granddaughter, I was driving in a near blinding snow storm.
A 30 minute drive, a 60 minute wait, an hour and a half ferry ride, and I was on the highway home. Surprise! Another snow storm on this side too! Two hours of that messy highway driving and I was finally back home. Snow and ice the entire way!
It is now April 2. No longer April Fools Day. At 2 am the snow is stopping and turning again to rain. Thank God that Day is over!
Elouise Lord,
mother, teacher, paralegal, writer, speaker, driver, facilitator, etc.
PS, next time it snows, I am not going anywhere!

http://tinyurl.com/b5op9q

updates from beyond

2008-12-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Since August, the wheels have rumbled! Staff at Matsqui finally completed the paperwork for the transfer to lower security. William Head Institution put pressure on them to get the transfer done before this week so he could take part in the framing course that is starting tomorrow. It is a lead in to the carpentry apprenticeship that he is transferring there to take.

He is there now for a week. Of course, his clothes and personal effects will take another month to arrive. He is happy to be near the ocean once more. It has been 17 years since he could listen to the waves crash and break.

I went to Victoria by ferry to visit him a couple of days after his transfer. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to see him as my visiting status had expired in October. That was something that does happen every two years, but I had put new forms in to Matsqui Institution in September after receiving a warning that it was about to expire. They lost the forms, but neglected to tell me. Now I have to re-apply and wait for approval. I filled in the forms while at William Head and turned them in. They lost those ones too. Go figure!

Since then, the framing course has started and Derik is not in it. They chose to put it available to only those who are to be released within the next 4 months. Since he does not have a date for his parole hearing yet, he has no release date. The system had to put off his parole hearing once again because the officer at Matsqui again refused to do any of the paperwork required.

He is learning to cook for himself and quite liking the freedom that entails. Once again, he is sitting and waiting. None of his personal effects have arrived yet. Likely will take another month to get them. He is surviving with the change of clothes and limited hygiene items he brought with him.

He is much happier despite all this as he is not under the same bullying constraints he had at Matsqui. The wheels of change roll so slowly that they appear to stand still.

Words from Inside Canada's Prisons

2008-12-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

Dignity’s Child

The Canadian Charter of Right’s and Freedoms

This submission was prepared by a Canadian prisoner for the “Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety” conference held in Matsqui Institution on November 29th, 2008. The conference was presided over by Professor Michael Jackson, Q.C., of the UBC Faculty of Law, and Mr. Graham Stewart, former National Chairman for the John Howard Society of Canada. It was convened with support from the British Columbia Law Foundation for the purpose of formulating a response to the “Report of the Correctional Service of Canada Review Panel” of October 31st, 2007. The author of this submission chose anonymity so that his identity would in no way distract the reader from the truth of his message.

In the spring of 1982 I was 15 years old, living in a small city in B.C. Like many teenagers, I was preoccupied with motorcycles, girls, rock music, and dressing to impress my peers. Mostly I was unaware of something happening that spring that would have considerable influence on my future life. On April 17th Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Minister of Canada signed a document that included the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or “The Charter”. Though it meant little to me at the time, the Charter is a Canadian legal document that would have a greater effect on my life than any other.

Two short years later, I would enter British Columbia’s infamous Oakalla prison. From then until today, I am ashamed to concede that I have spent over 22 years inside of prisons just like this one (Matsqui). In that time, I have learned more about human indignity than many would think possible for an educated person living in one of the most “civilized” nations on earth.

Though I could not know it at the time, my entrance into Oakalla began a long search for human dignity. My dictionary defines dignity as, ‘the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed.’ By that definition, human dignity involves the way I view myself, the way others deal with me, and the way I view and treat others. While it is true that many things can affect the way I feel about myself, it is equally true that the way others treat me plays a large role in my everyday sense of personal value. I have been thinking a lot about that lately. Especially have I been thinking about it in light of the Charter. More than any other Canadian legal document, the Charter gives voice not only to how Canadians must treat each other, but more importantly, how we should view, or feel about each other.

For example, section 7 of the Charter states that “EVERYONE has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”The right to life. The right to liberty. The right to security of their person. What the Charter is really stating is that humans have the right to DIGNITY, and the right to not be deprived of that dignity except in accordance with the principles of justice. These rights are not earned. The Charter did not give Canadians these rights. Dignity is my birthright as a human being. As I understand it, that is why these rights are referred to as fundamental HUMAN rights. They were not ceded to me, nor can they be withdrawn by human legislation. The Charter is merely Canada’s effort to validate my humanity and remind me of the responsibility I have to conduct myself with dignity by according dignity to everyone.

This reality is confirmed in section 15. (1), which states that “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. And again in section 2: EVERYONE has the following fundamental freedoms: a) conscience and religion; b) thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; c) peaceful assembly; and d) association. The right to be treated as equal in value to all other humans. The freedom to think what I want, feel what I want, worship how I choose, and associate with whomever I wish, wherever I want, as long it is peaceful. Again, did the Charter give me and the rest of Canadians these rights and freedoms? Never!

The Charter’s opening preamble states “Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law”. (Emphasis Mine) With these words, the Charter confirms that freedom, dignity, and right to be human comes from the highest authority – God – and these gifts are not to be removed from any person inside the borders of Canada “except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” For greater certainty, the Charter confirms that any “principles of fundamental justice” must be “demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”. In plain English, the Charter validates that the human right to dignity is God given, and inside the borders of Canada, no one dare assault the dignity of another human being without an extremely good reason. It further states that because Canada is a democracy, that “reason” is open to public discussion, debate, and even disapproval.

Sadly, while the Charter is an admirable attempt to enshrine dignity for every Canadian, it is condemned to failure. If my study of human laws has taught me anything, it is that from the Code of Hammurabi to the over-promoted U.S. Constitution, no written code has yet been devised that can govern what a man is on the inside. The significance of this becomes obvious when I admit that what I am on the inside ultimately determines the value I place on the dignity of myself and others.An outstanding example of this comes from the most famous code of human dignity ever devised. The historical giant Jesus Christ once stated, “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.” Referred to as the ‘Golden Rule’, it is in reality the ‘Golden Rule of human dignity’. Yet, as well known and accepted as this rule is, history tells a tragic tale of its mis- or non-application. Repeatedly, this Golden Rule of human relationships has been corrupted into the Golden Rule of retaliation; “All things, therefore, that men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.” This “Golden Rule” has served as the principal rallying cry behind two world wars, countless religious pogroms and crusades, and an unending succession of so called “civil” wars. Moreover, once enacted, mankind has yet to find a way to stop this devalued version of the rule from degenerating into “Do to others worse than they have done to you”. This was Hitler’s ‘Golden Rule’ for annihilation of the Jews. It is a central pillar in the architecture of religious terrorism - from Munich in ‘72 to Northern Ireland in the 80’s to the World Trade Towers tragedy of 2001. It is the key element of U.S. foreign policy in Iraq, and has been the prevailing philosophy of various Middle Eastern factions since 1000 years before Christ. Now this dangerous and debased idea has reared its ugly head in the form of a “policy recommendation” made to and accepted by arguably the most powerful law enforcement agency in Canada. I am speaking of the CSC (Correctional Service of Canada).

Inside Canada’s territorial boundaries, no government agency has as much ability, or authority to “reasonably limit the rights and freedoms” of Canadian citizens as does this one. It is therefore a frightening spectre that inside this powerful, influential organization, the idea of “doing worse to others than they have done to you” has gained significant momentum. Most recently, it reveals itself in the form of the following recommendation made in the 2007 Correctional Service of Canada Review Panel Report:2. “The Panel recommends that the following amendments be made to section 4 of the CCRA:Note that the underlined text identifies the Panel’s recommended changes.…e) That offenders retain the basic [below minimum-standard] rights and privileges of all members of society, except those rights and privileges that are necessarily removed or restricted as a consequence of the sentence, [or] are required in order to encourage the offender to begin to and continue to engage in his or her correctional plan.3. The panel recommends that, at each security level (minimum, medium and Maximum), a basic level of rights should be defined. - “Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety” at 216, 217. In layman’s terms, this recommendation promotes the idea that human rights can somehow be attenuated simply because a citizen resides in the penitentiary or because he has not shown ‘sufficient progress’ (a perilously subjective standard) in developing cognitive thinking skills. This recommendation represents the most dangerous philosophy in Canadian society today. In Canada, our definition of the basic rights that a human has from the time of birth are those written in the Charter. To suggest otherwise - as the Roadmap report does - is not only absurd, it is irresponsibly dangerous. This is this ideology that fostered horrid and tragic human rights abuses in Canada’s Indian reservations and residential schools for over a century. It is the same doctrine that led to the conditions of segregation in the British Columbia Penitentiary in 1975, when it was shamefully declared by a Canadian court to be a form of cruel and unusual punishment. When will we learn that to devalue the rights of any human is to devalue the human himself?

In the 20th century, the dehumanization of certain ‘categorized’ citizens led numerous countries to commit state-sponsored atrocities in such proportions as to never be erased from our collective consciousness. Stalinist purges, Cambodian killing fields, ‘Cultural Revolution’ in Maoist China, and the Holocaust all have in common that they were carried out by the state against their own citizenry. While many are left wondering how responsible, civilized governments could ever conduct themselves with such brutality against their own citizenry, there is a lesson to be learned in reviewing the laws and policies of those countries during those times. Without exception, justification for the state’s monstrous conduct can be found in legal decrees defining ‘certain groups of citizens’ as unworthy of the full compliment of human rights. Alarmingly, this is the slippery slope that the “Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety” advocates. That alarm should sound loud and clear in the heart of any who would learn from history.

Evidently though, it is not. What is of great alarm - to those of us under the authority of the Correctional Service of Canada – is that this report and its recommendations have been both accepted and approved of by the ruling political party and the Commissioner of the CSC. As CSC began its 2008 implementation of the “transition” doctrine outlined in the “Roadmap” report, the opposition political parties have not uttered a word of disagreement or criticism. Even inside of CSC, where there exist judicious, experienced officials who have spent long careers ever vigilant for the types of human rights abuses indigenous to a penitentiary environment, there has been an awkward and conspicuous silence in the critique of a document widely perceived as representing the most regressive Correctional philosophy since the Canadian Penitentiary Act of 1868.

The reason for this noticeable hush is difficult to pinpoint. However, my commentary on the rapid and unimpeded rise of reactionary correctional philosophy as presented in the “Roadmap” report would be incomplete if I did not mention – even in brief - the equally rapid and unprecedented increase in influence of what has become a defacto “shadow administration” inside CSC – the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO).UCCO’s roots can be traced to the late 1980’s and early 90’s. During that time, the CSC underwent a major organisational restructuring spearheaded by an aspirational Mission Statement, a new model for institutional management and a research-based cognitive model for prison programs. Front-line security officers soon found their authority and role in a reorganized, mission-driven CSC reduced in favor of cognitive-therapy treatment. An organization that had for 150 years supplied lifetime employment to consecutive generations of high school educated men was perceived by those same men as having turned its back on them – in favor of a correctional model that ceded greater dignity to the criminal offender. Many of these officers felt that the greater human rights – or dignity – being expended to prisoners was coming at the expense of their own dignity. (See “Toward a Policy for Canada’s Penitentiaries – The Evolution of Canada’s Prison System and the Transformation of the Correctional Officer’s Role (1950-2002)” http://www.ucco-sacc.csn.qc.cp/pregenerate/cmsFrameMain_EN_national_V05072Z0628670845PM.html?Lang=EN&ParentID=national&SectionID=V05072Z0628670845) This perception was undoubtedly strengthened by CSC budgetary decisions that oversaw a reallocation of financial resources from front line security into correctional programs and reintegration initiatives. Bitter, unfruitful contract negotiations between CSC and the Union representing Federal Public Servants (PSAC) in the early 1990’s provided fertile ground for a upsurge of resentment amongst front line Correctional Officers. The match that lit the tinder finally came in 1997, when CSC exponentially increased its fiscal budget for correctional programs facilitated by Sociology graduates, while simultaneously reducing its budget for front line Correctional Officers. CSC’s message was clear. In the field of corrections, the 21st century would belong to Canada, with its pioneering model of therapeutic, cognitive-training based correctional ‘healing’ environments. “Citizen lawbreakers” would be accorded personal dignity with an expectancy that they would follow suit by according dignity to others. It was a correctional philosophy that the front line Correctional Officers would never buy into. To the contrary, they became this philosophy’s most successful opponents.Exploring the success behind UCCO’s meteoric rise of influence inside the criminal justice system would make for a fascinating book, and is certainly beyond the reach of this submission. However, it is an important observation that now, in late 2008, no single entity inside of Canada’s criminal justice system holds greater influence over current and future correctional policy than does the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. At the penitentiary level, prison Administrators cringe in apprehension when facing even potential conflict with UCCO representatives. At the national level, Correctional Officials at the highest levels of CSC are perceived by many middle managers to be “in the pocket” of UCCO. Anecdotal evidence even exists that UCCO is on the primary distribution list of the current government’s cabinet briefs concerning Corrections – ahead of even CSC Commissioners! Perhaps most revealing in terms of UCCO’s sphere of influence, is that a great many of the recommendations made by the “Independent CSC Review Panel” in their “Roadmap” report to the government are ‘cut-and-paste’ out of widely available UCCO promotional literature detailing the union’s future vision of Corrections in Canada. (Compare “Toward a Policy for Canada’s Penitentiaries – The Evolution of Canada’s Prison System and the Transformation of the Correctional Officer’s Role (1950-2002)” at page 131) This reality presents an obvious problem. While the primary mandate of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is Public Safety, the Trade Union known as UCCO is focused primarily on the financial and career advantages of its due paying members. On a great many levels, these two agendas are mutually exclusive. Of equal importance to UCCO is an increase in due-paying members, thus greater enabling it to fulfill its primary mandate. On their face, correctional policies that grant greater dignity for criminal offenders, with emphasis on reintegration and lower rates of recidivism are by their very nature antithetical to UCCO’s primary goal – securing long lasting employment and influence for Correctional Officers. Logically then UCCO leadership does, and MUST oppose both legislation and policy that promotes human rights for criminal offenders. UCCO does not hide this organizational philosophy, rather freely advocating it in the promotional literature found at its website (http://www.ucco-sacc.csn.qc.cp) While couching its opposition to human rights (dignity) for criminal offenders in language supportive of staff safety and dignity, UCCO’s resistance is in reality a rejection of the social healing model of corrections in favor of a punitive, control and domination model requiring an ever larger legion of front line Correctional Officers.

This rejection of CSC’s mission-driven model, combined with the great political influence UCCO currently wields, is the evident reason that innovative CSC sites such as the Kwìkwèxwelhp Healing Village in B.C. have – as of November 2008 - a 17% occupancy rate while Medium Security facilities that tend towards keeping offenders incarcerated for longer periods under greater control are full to the point of double bunking. UCCO’s strategy in this regard has been little short of brilliant, transforming itself in 10 short years from a grass-roots movement of marginal, disgruntled public service employees into a powerful lobbying machine capable of dictating terms to its employer and essentially guaranteeing life-long career employment for its membership. Lamentably, for CSC and the tax-paying public they represent, it is not at all evident that UCCO’s strategy strengthens public safety in any way. The Union’s very public promotion of a return to a pre-Charter style penitentiary environment is in actuality a vote of support for the ultra-violent prison conditions of the 1970’s that led to riots, hostage takings, and murders in penitentiaries across Canada, as documented in the following words of the MacGuigan report of 1977:Seven years of comparative peace in the Canadian penitentiary system ended in 1970 with a series of upheavals (riots, strikes, murders and hostage-takings) that grew in numbers and size with each passing year. By 1976 the prison explosions were almost constant; hardly a week passed without another violent incident. The majority were in Canada's maximum security institutions. In the 42 years between 1932 and 1974, there was a total of 65 major incidents in federal penitentiaries. Yet in two years – 1975 and 1976 – there was a total of 69 major incidents, including 35 hostage-takings involving 92 victims, one of whom (a prison officer) was killed. (House of Commons Sub-Committee on the Penitentiary System in Canada, Report to Parliament [Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1977] [Chairman: Mark MacGuigan] at 5) I have spoken with a number of institutional level correctional managers who feel that with the adoption of the ‘transformation agenda’ outlined in the “Roadmap” report, this 20 year tug of war between two competing ideologies inside of CSC has now been decided in favor of UCCO and its Allies. If this is so, there is great fear amongst many stakeholders that CSC is on the cusp of the largest regression of human rights since the patriation of the Canadian Constitution. It would be unrealistically biased of me to be so critical of the “Roadmap” report and not present an alternative. Yet, I freely admit that any alternative I could present would only be one more theory in a long line of theories presented by those seeking a utopian society. The truth is, crime is ugly. In every form, it is an assault on the human dignity of another. I know of which I speak.

In 1983, I began my all out assault on dignity. It began with a breach of financial trust, and ended 12 years later with the ultimate indignity - when I deprived another human being of his right to life. Yet, as implausible as it may sound, I now know that during that time I was desperately seeking “worth, honor, and esteem.” You will recall that this is how the dictionary defined “dignity”. How did a person searching so desperately for dignity become so undignified?I have thought about that question for many years now. The conclusion I’ve reached is that even though we are born with dignity, the world we are born into is full of indignity. My power of reason leads me to believe that powerful unseen wicked forces beyond our control are influencing the entire human family. How else can we explain the global epidemic of sexual slavery, child molestation, family violence, drug addiction and alcoholism, war, violent crime, starvation and poverty, environmental destruction and gross economic injustice? We may be born innocent, but it doesn’t remain that way for long. If dignity is a human birthright, then the world we are born into is a thief relentlessly seeking to steal it away. Unfortunately, this is the model we learn from the youngest age. When dignity is first taken from us, we feel “indignant”. Without correction, our base response is to take dignity from others in an attempt to retrieve our own. Logically, this “tit-for-tat” model of conflict resolution is the wrong response. It only creates a firestorm of people robbing dignity from others. Yet it is the model we continue to follow into adulthood – often without second thought. What it creates is a life cycle of indignity as the pendulum swings between losing and taking dignity.

Lawmakers know this well. In April of 1945, in an endorsement of the Charter of the newly formed United Nations Organization, U.S. President Harry Truman publicly stated: “We must build a new world—a far better world—one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected.” (Emphasis Mine) It is this attempt to validate “eternal dignity” for all that drives lawmakers to draft codes such as the Charter. It was with similar intent that in 1986, Canadian lawmakers set out to create “new correctional legislation which gives guidance to correctional staff and promotes fair and effective decision-making; it should facilitate operations and be clear and unambiguous; it should be internally consistent; it should promote the dignity and fair treatment of inmates; and reflect the interests of staff, offenders, and of all others affected by the correctional system.” (Emphasis Mine) (A Framework For the Correctional Law Review - Correctional Law Review Working Paper No. 2, - June 1986) Why should such legislation “promote the dignity and fair treatment of inmates”? The answer to that question strikes at the root of how Canadian citizens end up in prison.

As stated earlier, I am in prison because of committing one of the greatest indignities known to man. I forcibly took away another person’s dignity. His right to “worth, honor, and esteem”. His right to life. In doing so, I likewise gave up my own human dignity. Notice, I did not say I gave up my right to dignity. A human’s right to dignity can only be removed by the one who created him. Rather, in my case, I threw away my own dignity. At that time, Canadian society was forced to decide how to respond. Was revenge the right model? By killing me, they could enact upon me the same indignity I had enacted on my victim. Though I wouldn’t learn anything from the experience, perhaps it would teach the rest of society that taking away the dignity of another would be met with a forcible and severe removal of their dignity. Or, perhaps, as is the case in some societies, it would be better to publicly torture and maim me. That way revenge could be satisfied as my dignity is taken away on a repeated and daily basis.

In the end, Canadian society chose the moral high road. Perhaps this course was chosen on the perception that a person born into a world with so much indignity is not solely responsible for treating others with indignity. So, it was decided that in my case – and the cases of thousands of other Canadian citizens – Canadian society would attempt to teach us how to treat others with dignity. But how could this best be accomplished on such a large scale? In 1986, it was decided to create a new body of law that would – amongst other things – “promote the dignity and fair treatment of inmates”. This new body of law would take 6 years to create, span the mandate of two separate governments, and involve the labours of hundreds of lawmakers, social workers, International partners, university professors, CSC staff, lawyers, and community liaisons. The working papers alone for this project cover 2 years and 481 pages of summary reports. I know, I’ve read all of them. The final result was the CCRA – The Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the accompanying Regulations. In the opening sections of the CCRA, this law boldly stated its goal:Purpose of correctional system3. The purpose of the federal correctional system is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by(a) carrying out sentences imposed by courts through the safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders; and(b) assisting the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens through the provision of programs in penitentiaries and in the community. (Emphasis Mine)A “just, peaceful and safe society”. “Rehabilitation”. “Law abiding citizens.” Perhaps these principles are best summed up in the CCRA sections 70, which states:Living conditions, etc.70. The Service shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that penitentiaries, the penitentiary environment, the living and working conditions of inmates and the working conditions of staff members are safe, healthful and free of practices that undermine a person’s sense of personal dignity. (Emphasis Mine)The rationale behind this legislation is easily understood. Stripping a person of dignity is often more brutal than inflicting physical blows. It is devastating to the human spirit. A devastated, dehumanized human spirit is a dangerous thing. When humans become dehumanized, they tend to act inhumanely. This was the lesson learned painfully through the events in B.C. Pen, Millhaven, Archambault, and Kingston Penitentiary in the 1970’s and early 80’s. Some in the CSC today choose to irresponsibly forget that those lessons were paid for with the blood of both prisoners and Correctional Officers. A more pleasant lesson CSC has both learned and preached since that time is that when accorded greater dignity, human inclination is to conduct oneself, and treat others more humanely. In the 20 years since the creation of CSC’s Mission and the subsequent inception of the CCRA, incidents of prison violence in general, violent recidivism by parolees, and violent crime committed by successful beneficiaries of CSC correctional programming have reduced dramatically. Of equal interest is the anecdotal evidence that exceptions to these downward trends in violence exist most strongly at penitentiary sites where UCCO opposition to the therapeutic healing environment proceeds unchecked. Inversely, incidents of prison violence (against staff and offenders), criminal misconduct, and recidivism are lowest at sites designed to promote human dignity and social healing. Foremost amongst these sites are the minimum-security institutions and native healing villages. Yet, it spite of some evidence supporting the CCRA’s efficacy in validating dignity in criminal offenders, it too - like its parent the Charter - is doomed to failure. Mankind’s history with the ‘rule of law’ shows clearly that no written code, be it the CCRA in its current form nor a version modified according to the “Roadmap” recommendations, can govern the human heart. Our model of cognition states that thoughts lead to feelings, and feelings lead to actions. The rule of law cannot govern the feelings that lead to human indignity. Only when the “rule of law” gives way to the ‘rule of love’ will we in retrospect realize how ridiculous our attempts to “codify” human dignity were.

Only when humanity writes the Golden Rule on its heart instead of paper will our starvation for dignity finally be satisfied. I, for one am FULL OF HOPE that I will see that realized in my lifetime. But it will not come about through “the rule of law”, as the Charter’s opening words allude. Rather, my confidence lies in the other statement made in the Charter’s preamble – that through the “Supremacy of God”, all citizens will attain to dignity. While we await that Supremacy, I strongly encourage anyone hearing or reading these words to reject fear, reject dehumanization, reject those who would sacrifice the safety of Canadian citizens in exchange for narrow political and financial agendas, and instead embrace HUMAN DIGNITY. When we dignify others – even more so than we feel they deserve - we in truth dignify ourselves. In dignifying ourselves, we dignify ALL humanity. This is the vision that Canadians must welcome and promote – even for those guilty of our society’s greatest indignities.

Coach Elouise

604-794-3218

Skype elouise.lord

Email: rascal60@shaw.ca

http://tinyurl.com/6jhsm5

And the beat goes on...

2008-08-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

It is the end of August, but Derik remains at Matsqui. His case managemnt meetings have been postponed now for 4 weeks. The paperwork is not done yet either. The carpentry course he wants to get into at Willam Head starts in a week, but he wll not be there.
His passes for which he received appoval last February are not progressing at all. He has had 1 pass in 6 months. He goes to check on Mondays and Fridays to see if he is going to the meetings (L.I.N.C.), but it has become just another joke. The staff just laugh when they see him coming.
Way to go guys!
Nice rehabilitation going on here!

How do you get a loved one out of prison?

2008-08-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Derik should now be at a minimum securtiy prison. Actually, he should have been out on parole 6 years ago. He still sits in Matsqui, his home away from home for nearly all of the 17 years he has been incarcerated.

His IPO once again asked that he wthdraw his application for a transfer. When he asked why, she could only say William Head does not want him. So he asked what do I have to do next. Her reply was "I don't know" The usual.

He has not had an IPO who appears to understand the job or know what to do to get him on the way out of prison. That pat answer has been the one he has heard for at least 10 years now. I ask the same questions when I call, but I get the same pat answer.

There is nothing left on Derik's correctional plan. There are no further programs, no further education, no further work experience that can be had at Matsqui.

He is way past his parole date. He has been warehoused for nearly half his life. The only reason that I can see for him still being there is racism. He is Metis. He does not lie, he does not cheat, he does not shirk responsibility, he maintains his innocence, he stays in prison. It is beyond time that he was released.

He was granted escorted passes to go to LINC meetings. Last February. He has received only one pass since and gone out one time. Apparently no more are forthcoming. His IPO wants more passes before she does anything. He cannot get more passes without overtime for guards. That is not coming any time soon. It is time for Michelle to get off her butt and set something in motion for him. Do your job!

Elouise
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
http://coachelouise.com

We still carry on and Derik is still behind bars.

2008-07-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Derik has now completed the programs he was sent back to medium security to do. He was approved for scheduled escorted passes last February. It is now July and he finally received one outing to a linc meeting. His IPO will not do the paperwork for his transfer until he has a couple more passes, but those are not forthcoming. So, there he sits. 16 years into a life-10 bit and he is still no closer to getting out. They are not demandig a confession since we pointed out that is contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. But, they are not facilitating his release.

What does it take to get out of jail in this country?

Apparently it takes a lot of money, lies, sex and videotapes.

If you have any ideas, please post.

Coach Elouise

The day goes on.

2008-06-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since I posted on this blog. You would expect that much has happened. To the contrary, nothing has really changed. Derik Still sits at a medium security even though the program that he took has been completed for a couple of weeks, nearly a month actually. His transfer request is in, his passes have been approved since February, but nothing has really changed. He gets no passes for staff shortage reasons. He is not getting transferred yet because it will take about 6 months of paperwork. Not that it takes 6 months to do it, but it takes that long to encourage the staff to complete their obligatory paperwork. It can take even longer if the staff decides, as his last internal parole officer did, that she/he is not going to do anything at all for several months.
Can you hear my frustration? Multiply that by 100 and you get some sense of his frustration levels.

Visiting Dilemma

2007-11-26T12:51:00.000-08:00

The visiting dilemma occrs when you are trying to visit a loved one in a Canadian prison. The first hurdle is to phone in and book a visit.
Booking should be straight forward and simple, bu that is not always the case. sometimes, you might have to try 20 times or so to get through. Not that they are busy, but they do not always feel like answering the phone. Once that is done, you proceed to the visit itself.
Getting there is usually fine, but then the procedures to get in might just get your goat. Please do not forge to bring ID. You will not be able to sign in without that. Then hope that your clothes are very clean, with no residue of any kind on them. You will be requested to swipe a piece of filter paper on your clothing that will be tested for contact with many known drugs. This is geared to esure that drugs are not being brought in to the prison by you. Unfortunately, the ion scanner is only checking for certain ions, not recognizing compounds. That means that if you are a diabetic, heroin will show up on the scanner test. Or if you take a cold medication, just a simple over the counter one, you may be hitting with cocaine or amphetamines on the scanner. If you have been shopping, there may be traces of all kinds of things on your hands and clothing. Eventually, you will learn how to avoid these traps.
Then you go to the visiting room and wait some more. I have found that it usually takes about 20 minutes to get through all the front gate stuff and another 20 minutes to wait for the prisoner. the visits are set for 3 hours, but, as you can see, you do not usually get a 3 hour visit. Always a tense time, but the visit is worth the effort. At least when a mother can see her son, it eases her worries for at least a little while.

Canadian Injustice

2007-11-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

This blog has been created to provide a space to sound off regarding wrongful convictions and injustices in our legal system. My son has been wrongfully convicted and is being held in prison until he confesses. According to the reports on his file made by some members of his Correctional Team in Matsqui prison, he will "never get parole until he confesses truthfully or otherwise". Coercion of a confession using confinement is a violationof the Criminal code of Canada. How can we possibly believe that the Correctional service running our prisons is teaching men to become honest citizens when they are continually faced with people breaking the law in the name of rehabilittion?
I have much more to say and I promise to read all your comments.

http://www.tripledecholdings.com/

Look this up to find out how to choose work at home opportunities that will make you money.