Watchdogs investigate youth jails

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This article was published 01/12/2016 (3209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s children’s advocate and ombudsman have launched a joint investigation into allegations of inappropriate use of pepper spray and inmate isolation in youth jails.

The investigation follows complaints to the children’s advocate over the past year by 19 individuals incarcerated at the Manitoba Youth Centre in Winnipeg and Agassiz Youth Centre in Portage la Prairie.

Children’s advocate Darlene MacDonald said Thursday her office is limited, by legislation, to dealing only with children who are involved with child welfare agencies. By joining with the ombudsman’s office, a broader probe into the allegations can be carried out, she said.

In a report Wednesday, MacDonald said her office received complaints incarcerated youth have been pepper-sprayed simply to control their behaviour — rather than as a last resort in dangerous situations.

“My advocacy workers had been working with youth from the youth centre and Agassiz and, basically, brought it to my attention,” MacDonald said Thursday. “They were concerned and alarmed at the number of youth that were indicating that they had been held in isolation and (had) pepper spray (used) on them.”

MacDonald and ombudsman Charlene Paquin informed the justice and families ministers in mid-September that they were launching their investigation. It will cover the period from September 2015 to September 2016.

Paquin said her office is able to examine how all youth are treated by the justice system. The investigation will examine what policies and procedures are in place and whether they are being followed or need updating.

“We have fairly broad investigative powers,” she said. “We do have the ability, in plain language, to pretty much talk to anybody and ask for any kind of documentation that we believe is relevant to the scope of an investigation.”

Paquin described the investigation as in its early stages. MacDonald said her goal is for it to be completed before her term expires April 11.

On Thursday, Families Minister Scott Fielding and Justice Minister Heather Stefanson pledged their departments’ co-operation.

Neither wanted to comment in detail about the allegations while the investigation is on.

“The children advocate’s report about use of pepper spray and isolation is concerning,” Stefanson said in a statement. “Juvenile counsellors in our youth facilities are peace officers for the purposes of performing their work duties. As peace officers, they are accountable for the difficult work they do and the manner in which it is performed.

“This work sometimes requires that staff, working within established policies and procedures, take steps to ensure the safety of both youth in custody and those responsible for their care. The department has and will continue to co-operate fully with the review that is currently underway.”

Allegations of improper use of pepper spray and isolation are also an issue in adult correction institutions.

John Hutton, executive director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba, said his organization has concerns about whether there are adequate protocols in place for the use of pepper spray in federal penitentiaries.

“We would like to see full accountability so that if a container (of pepper spray) comes back half-used, half-empty, somebody has to make a report and indicate why they used it, where, and then there is a record of its use,” he said Thursday.

If inmates are pepper-sprayed, they should receive prompt medical attention and their cells should be cleaned — if that’s where the substance was used, Hutton said.

“It can be quite debilitating and extremely unpleasant but even more so if you have to stay in the cell where it’s coated the walls and the floor for a period of time afterwards,” he said.

“It’s certainly not a substance to be used lightly,” he said,

Hutton noted a 33-year-old man died in a New Brunswick prison last year after being repeatedly pepper-sprayed.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

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