Short title: Providing Alternatives to Isolation and Ensuring Oversight and Remedies in the Correctional System Act (Tona’s Law)
[...] First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2-3 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023-2024 SENATE OF CANADA BILL S-230 An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act AS PASSED BY THE SENATE December 10, 2024 4412116 SUMMARY This enactment amends the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to, among other things, (a) require that, if a person who is sentenced, transferred or committed to a penitentiary has disabling mental health issues, they will be transferred to a hospital; (b) ensure that a person may only be confined in a structured intervention unit for longer than 48 hours on an order of a superior court; (c) allow for the provision of correctional services and plans for release and reintegration into the community to persons from disadvantaged or minority populations by community groups and other similar support services; and (d) allow for persons who are sentenced to a period of incarceration or parole ineligibility to apply
[...] Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address:www.sencanada.ca/en 1st Session, 44th Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2-3 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023-2024 SENATE OF CANADA BILL S-230 An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act Preamble Whereas meaningful and effective remedies and oversight are crucial to ensuring respect for the rule of law and human rights; Whereas, in contrast to other branches of Canada’s criminal legal system, decisions made by the Correctional Service of Canada that impact human rights are not routinely subject to judicial oversight; Whereas the Structured Intervention Unit Implementation Advisory Panel and the Office of the Correctional Investigator have documented persistent conditions of segregation in federal penitentiaries; Whereas conditions of isolation and segregation have the potential to create and exacerbate risks to the well-being of persons, including in contravention of prohibitions on cruel and unusual
[...] ; And whereas segregation, structured intervention units and other forms of isolation are among the most costly and least effective ways of responding to individuals in need of social, cultural and health supports; Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:Alternative TitleAlternative title 1 This Act may be cited as the Providing Alternatives to Isolation and Ensuring Oversight and Remedies in the Correctional System Act (Tona’s Law). 1992, c. 20Corrections and Conditional Release Act2 Subsection 2(1) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order: structured intervention unit means (a) any area of a penitentiary where a person is separated from the mainstream population and is required to spend less time outside their cell or engaging in activities than is a person in the mainstream population; or (b) a penitentiary or any area in a penitentiary
[...] Populations8 Section 79 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order: disadvantaged or minority population includes any population that is or has been the subject of direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.
[...] for the purposes of subsection (1): (a) the community’s Indigenous governing body, if applicable; (b) an Indigenous organization that is active in the community; (c) a community group or organization that serves a disadvantaged or minority population; or (d) any other entity that provides community-based support services.Obligation(3) The Service must (a) take all reasonable measures to inform persons committed to a penitentiary about the entities described in subsection (2) that may be relevant to them; and (b) give every entity that has proposed a plan for the release and integration of a person under subsection (1) adequate notice of that person’s parole review or their statutory release date, as the case may be.Written reasons(4) If the Parole Board of Canada makes any decision that is inconsistent with a plan proposed by an entity for the release and integration of a person under subsection (1), it must provide written reasons for its decision.11 The Act is amended by adding
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