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A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of inmates held at the Mission Institution over allegations the Correctional Service Canada failed to take steps to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 leading to 20 percent of the prison’s inmates to test positive for the disease.
Attorney Jeffrey Hartman says that Canada’s federal government and CSC knew “an outbreak would have devastating consequences but failed to take adequate steps to prevent and mitigate it.”
About 20 percent of Mission Institution’s more than 300 inmates have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Vancouver Sun.
“It’s the worst outbreak in Canada and we expect the figure to rise because CSC just announced this week that all inmates will soon be tested,” Hartman says.
One inmate has reportedly died due to COVID-19 complications.
“Aside from obvious physical health consequences, inmates are now confined to 8 x 12 foot cells for 23 hours and 40 minutes per day, for days on end, with significant mental health consequences,” Hartman says. “At least one inmate has attempted suicide.”
Plaintiff Todd Howley alleges he developed symptoms of COVID-19, but prison staff blamed the symptoms on allergies. Todd tested positive for COVID-19.
Todd is represented by Hartman. He filed the Mission Institution inmates class action lawsuit on “behalf of all people who are or were incarcerated in Mission Institution and tested positive for COVID-19 or had COVID-19 symptoms since November of 2019.”
According to the Mission Institution inmates class action lawsuit, federal prison inmates are at “heightened risk of infection due to population density, close living quarters, shared amenities such as telephones, underlying illness and health vulnerabilities, and often unhygienic and unsanitary conditions.”
Todd claims that CSC staff and inmates began developing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and influenza in the middle of March. At the start of April, the inmates were locked down. However, CSC staff continued to enter and leave the facility, potentially bringing COVID-19 into the prison.
During the lockdown, inmates reportedly experienced “a total deprivation of exercise, shower and telephone” for at least a week in April. As a result, they were unable to contact their family and had difficulty getting in touch with their lawyers, the class action lawsuit says.
The lockdown caused inmates to experience “a high state of tension causing or exacerbating the risk of harm as well as mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression,” Todd alleges.
Todd also says that meals during the lockdown were small and weren’t served regularly. For one week, the inmates were allegedly served meals from McDonald’s.
“It was not until approximately April 20, 2020 that staff underwent rigorous decontamination on entering Mission Institution,” according to the Mission Institution inmates class action lawsuit.
On that same day, a hazmat team was reportedly brought in to decontaminate the prison buildings.
The Mission inmates class action lawsuit alleges the CSC violated its own regulations and the inmates’ Charter rights. Todd alleges that the CSC and federal government should have made efforts to reduce the prison population to reduce the risk of infection by releasing low risk inmates through legal mechanisms such as bail or parole.
Todd alleges he and other inmates contracted COVID-19 due to the CSC’s failure to take “adequate measures to protect the plaintiff and class” from the novel coronavirus and failed to provide sick inmates with timely and appropriate medical care.
The class action lawsuit seeks damages, a declaration that the inmates’ rights were violated, and an order certifying the class action lawsuit.
The Mission Institution class action lawsuit is not the first to challenge CSC’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada’s prisons. A plaintiff at the federal women’s prison in Joliette, Quebec filed a similar class action lawsuit accusing the CSC and federal prison officials of failing to take timely protective measures at correctional facilities.
Before Todd filed this Mission inmates class action lawsuit, CSC communications adviser Martine Rondeau said that the CSC was “doing everything possible to prevent further transmission of COVID-19 including reviewing local infection and control measures in collaboration with several external experts.”
“We have been making every effort to give inmates time outside of their cells. Staffing levels can fluctuate and we have called out for volunteers to work at the site,” Rondeau said. “We also need to make sure that time out of cells is done safely to prevent further spread. This means making sure inmates remain at least 2 metres apart and that effective cleaning and disinfecting is done multiple times per day.”
The CSC has reportedly not yet filed a response to the Mission Institution inmates class action lawsuit.
Have you or a loved one been impacted by the COVID-19 spread in jails and prisons? Tell us your story in the comment section below!
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7 thoughts onMission Inmate Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over COVID-19 Infested Institution
My brother Eugene passed away while incarcerated from covid 19 in January of 2021 n emotionally it’s tough
I had posted my husband’s story on this site a few days ago. I need to update my previous post as now my husband, who has been incarcerated at the Monteith correctional complex since January without a bail review or trial date, still waiting on the crown to provide information for him to plea his case to the courts the entire time still, can’t contact his lawyer, can’t go outside, can’t get his mail that he receives there, etc. Now my husband has tested positive for COVID 19 in Monteith while sitting there under the presumption of innocence being punished as he is isolated from the world and his family, when he could have been at home safe and healthy under conditions from the courts instead. This is sickening as now he will most likely be transfered to a federal prison for contracting the virus while in the care of the justice system with murderers and violant criminals and put at even higher risk for his safety and health. Something needs to be done here before even worst things happen to more people…..
My husband is also detained at the Monteith correctional complex. He has been sitting in there for over 4 months now awaiting trial\sentencing doing “dead time” and can not even contact his lawyer when needed. They have recently shipped out over 30 inmates this past week to other prisons across ontario due to a serious outbreak in Monteith. In the last 4 months, my husband has been on lockdown due to the pandemic, he can not have in person visits, nor can he now have the video visits that were set in place for inmates to still have contact with their families and loved ones as he can not leave his range what so ever. His meals are cut down to frozen diners the size of a michalina’s frozen tray, which is next to nothing at all and not very appetizing either. The guards won’t even sharpen their pencils, or provide them with proper means to stay safe and healthy. They are not allowed to go outside for their daily yard time. They haven’t been giving my husband his mail that he’s been receiving there. They also aren’t at all checking or worried about the inmates that are on the same range who have flu\cold like symptoms. We haven’t even been able to get my husbands proper information from the crown attorney so that he can plead his case properly and when anyone asks questions on what is taking so long or what is to come next, the only answer we hear is always ” due to COVID”, IF we even get that much at time. I have called the jail numerous times, several times a day, for weeks, leaving messages for the guards to give to my husband which he never ever receives at all. The conditions that these men are having to live in are completely disgusting and disturbing. Especially for the ones who aren’t even sentenced yet, who could be at home with their families, safe and taking the proper precautions to this vicious pandemic, who could be released on bail, or whatever conditions the courts would require them to do so, yet they can not. I understand that they have probably committed a crime since they are in fact incarcerated, BUT these are not “normal times”, this is a serious time, a dangerous time, and it is costing the government that much more funds to have these people held in prison just waiting on nothing really at this point when they could send them home and probably save lives in doing so. When my husband was first arrested, he couldn’t even have telephone access for about a week which violates his rights just as everything else he’s endured since then. Something needs to be done to protect EVERYONE, not just civilians but inmates also. If our justice system is not capable of protecting our loved ones while in their care, then what is the point of it all ? They are not animals, most of the inmates in Monteith are there for non violant crimes. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed and rectified as soon as possible as we fear that we will be losing a lot of lives if it doesn’t…..
My husband is incarcerated in Monteith correctionnel complex in Ontario. They had cases there and refused to answer me when i asked questions on how they will protect him from it. They never gave him my messages when i called and dont really allow inmates to call their family. Of course, the 1st case appears long after the visit privileges at the jail were removed because of covid meaning that a staff member probably bring the virus inside the jail. They have a hard time to get soap to wash their hands, no masks are available for inmates and they are in their cell almost 24 hours a day. To talk to him i need to call around 8 times in a day.. this is not acceptable. My husband now have mental issues since he is confined alone in a cell for months. He had asked staff if he can go outside to take some fresh air and his request are always denied.His cell flood like 3 times in a week . He tells me that the nurse there check his temperature one time only for the covid 19 . They are treated like dogs, thankfully he will be out of that place in June. Shame to our justice system…
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My husband is incarcerated in Montrith forrectionnal complex in Ontario. They had cases there and refused to answer me when i adk questions on how they will protect him from it. They never gave him my messages when i called and dont really allow inmates to call their fmily. Of course the 1st case appears long after the visit at the jail was not possiblr anymore meaning that a staff member probably bring the virus inside the jail. They have a hard time to get soap to wash their hands and they are in their cell almost 24 hours a day. To talk to him i have to make around 8 phone calls in a row.. this is not acceptable. My husband now have mental issues since he is confined alone in a cell for months. He was refused each time he asked to go outside for a minute. His cell flood like 3 tines in a week . He tells me that the nurse there check his temperature one time only for the covid 19 . Ithey are treated like dogs, thankfully he will be out of that place in June. Shame to them..
My Brother contracted covid 19 in mission med . I called because I was worried and nobody was able to provide answers I kept up to date by media reports and watched Bonnie Henry rattle off the numbers of infected cases in the prison .not knowing if my brother was sick I couldn’t get answers for weeks then finally I was called .The call was disconnected and I received a voicemail that he had got covid 19 and has recovered !
I have a loved one currently incarcerated at the Bledsoe County prison in Pikeville TN where there are over 580 inmates tested positive for the Corona virus a facility of less than 2500 inmates.