Conservative senator ‘offended’ by prison guard union president

OTTAWA – A Conservative senator says he is upset and offended by the head of the prison guard’s union who questioned the difference between treating mentally ill offenders in federal penitentiaries versus hospitals.

Sen. Bob Runciman, a former Progressive Conservative Ontario corrections minister in the 1990s, said he was particularly upset the comments were made as a coroner’s inquest into teenage inmate Ashley Smith’s death resumes this fall.

“It’s hard to believe that someone would be saying those things, given the way that Ashley was treated,” Runciman said Friday.

“It’s very offensive.”

Evidence at the inquest showed 19-year-old Smith being duct-taped and injected with anti-psychotic drugs against her will. After 11 months in federal custody, Smith choked herself to death in October 2007 as guards, on instruction, stood outside her cell and watched.

Kevin Grabowsky, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, in an interview with Global News Thursday, questioned the difference between treating the mentally ill in a prison versus a forensic hospital.

Grabowsky was reacting to comments made by Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers who called for severely mentally ill inmates to be placed in secure treatment facilities run by the provinces.

“It’s a frustration,” Grabowsky said.

“What are we not providing? Can somebody tell us what we’re not providing federally that they’re providing in whatever magical place that Mr. Sapers says these inmates could go to and get better care? Is it just the fact that it’s called a hospital? That’s not reason enough.”

He was not available for an interview as he was travelling Friday, but a union representative said he stands by the comments.

Runciman is a long-time advocate for mental health treatment for offenders. He helped spearhead the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre, a secure treatment unit for male provincial inmates in Brockville, Ont. operated by the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

In its decade of existence, the facility has reduced re-offending by 40 per cent, Runciman said. The Royal Ottawa wants to establish a similar facility for female offenders.

Runciman said the Correctional Service of Canada has resisted the idea of a similar facility for federal inmates for years.

“The evidence has been overwhelming that these folks, they may know how to run a prison, but they simply clearly don’t know how to run a hospital, and that’s what’s needed in terms of getting demonstrated results,” said Runciman.

He said it’s up to the Conservative government to push for alternative treatment from the CSC.

Runciman also reacted to Grabowsky’s comments that some inmates are too violent for hospitals.

“That’s just a smoke screen to again not deal with this issue in an effective way,” said Runciman.

“I call it turf protection of the worst kind, because ultimately what they do is not only endanger the individuals who are not getting appropriate treatment, but at the end of the day they further endanger public safety, because these individuals are going to be back in the communities at some point.”

Grabowsky pointed to some inmates who are sent to secure hospitals but then transferred back to prison because they are too difficult to handle.

Smith was transferred 17 times during her incarceration. In his 2008 report “A Preventable Death,” Sapers said Smith was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Montreal at one point but her treatment was marred by the fact she had been assaulted by guards at the Prairie Regional Psychiatric Centre.

“Clearly, the Correctional Service failed to guarantee Ms. Smith’s basic right to safe and humane custody at that facility,” wrote Sapers.

Runciman said he’s written to new Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney about the Royal Ottawa’s proposal for a secure hospital for women offenders.

The Senate is also studying the issue of mental illness in prisons first put forward by Runciman, now under the direction of Liberal Senator Catherine Callbeck.