Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says government has 'duty of care' to protect vulnerable inmates
Kathleen Harris · CBC News · Posted: Jan 06, 2021 4:18 PM ET
The Conservatives are criticizing a COVID-19 vaccine rollout that gives some vulnerable prisoners priority for the shot. (Canadian Press)
The Conservatives are condemning a COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan that will prioritize some federal prisoners — a plan advocates say is a sound policy that will protect vulnerable people both inside and outside the prison system.
Conservative public safety critic Shannon Stubbs and Quebec Conservative MP Richard Martel issued a statement today calling it "outrageous" that incarcerated criminals could receive vaccines before some seniors in long-term care homes, front line healthcare workers, first responders and correctional officers.
"Government data from this past year shows that prison outbreaks have been isolated. The reality is that the federal government's failure to secure sufficient vaccine supply for all Canadians means that difficult choices must be made. Conservatives believe vaccinating the most vulnerable first must be the government's top priority," the statement reads.
"Justin Trudeau needs to do the right thing and ensure that vulnerable seniors, front-line medical staff, and other essential workers are first in line for the vaccine."
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair confirmed that about 600 federal inmates who are elderly or have pre-existing health conditions will be vaccinated on a priority basis. He said the federal government is following the advice of the national advisory committee on immunization, which identified congregate living settings, including prisons, as "high risk" locations.
Priority for those at 'acute risk'
"That's why, in our very earliest distribution of our vaccines, we're making a small number of those vaccines available to those individuals who are particularly at acute risk in our federal institutions," Blair said.
"We have a duty of care for those who are in our custody to ensure that they are treated fairly and they are kept safe."
Sen. Kim Pate, a long-time prisoners' advocate, criticized the Conservatives' stance.
"I find it problematic that individuals who, as far as I am aware, have no medical or epidemiological expertise seem more interested in inciting controversy than in ensuring all efforts are made to prevent the spread of the virus," she said in an email.
Pate said protecting vulnerable prisoners will protect others in the community.
"As individuals in congregate settings, they and the front line workers in institutions are among those who health authorities feel should be vaccinated in order to help prevent community spread and hopefully lighten the load on health care providers," she said.
Responding to a CTV report on the prisoner vaccinations late Tuesday, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole criticized the rollout plan.
"Not one criminal should be vaccinated ahead of any vulnerable Canadian or front line health worker," he said on Twitter.
Criminologist calls O'Toole statement 'unethical'
University of Ottawa criminologist and prison expert Justin Piché called O'Toole's statement "unethical and reprehensible."
"Above all, if we heeded this call, it would be dangerous not only for prisoners but all of us, as prison staff return to their families and our communities day in and day out," he said.
"When COVID strikes behind bars, it doesn't stay there and when it spreads into our communities from there, it puts everyone at heightened risk. It's in our interest for prisoners to get priority access to vaccines alongside people that are vulnerable in other congregate settings. Prison staff, like health care providers, also need priority access."
Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, noted that 600 vaccinations represent only about five per cent of the federal prison population. Priority for vaccines should be based on public health decisions based on risk of contamination and medical vulnerability, she said.
"Prisoners should not be denied their rightful place in priority for the vaccine because they are imprisoned," she said.
WATCH | Public safety minister addresses early COVID-19 vaccinations going to prison inmates
Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair responds to questions about prison inmates receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. 1:47
Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre
What conservatives are doing is placing a death sentence on Canadian prisoners many of whom at wrongfully convicted as a result of fabrication of evidence by Police. Erin O'Tool would be better off reading the 1963 USSC case of Gideon v. Wainwright that brought about the public defender system in the United States that acknowledges that you cannot have a fair trial without a lawyer. Canada has contempt for this fundamental principle of justice that means accused persons can go thru weeks of trial without a lawyer. Canada's legal system is corrupt from start to finish that promotes fabrication of evidence, encourages police to not disclose evidence and for political prosecutors to go judge shopping for a known corrupt judge to rubber stamp a decision that protects police who fabricate evidence. Erin O'Tool suffers from denial, minimization and is doing a Trump act in fabricating a narrative that is opposite reality.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid19-vaccine-rollout-csc-prisoners-1.5863435
Reply to @Chris Bacon: It's not hogwash, its reality. Legal aid is routinely denied. It only takes one vindictive person to call legal aid to get your legal aid cancelled, without disclosure of the information source. Then judges routinely deny Rowbotham applications. Duty council are instructed not to assist such people. Once in jail you cannot file an appeal, or obtain any legal assistance to file an appeal. Your post is a typical conservative red necked ideas that are contrary to the facts.
Reply to @charles harper: Charles, Typical conservative ideas that are "reaction formation". Your statement defies the facts. One infected prisoner will infect everyone he comes in contact with including innocent people in jail on fabricated charges. The denial of a vaccine to inmates is a death sentence to many at risk inmates, many of them who innocent or wrongfully convicted, a group that mad conservatives refuse to acknowledge exist.
https://cbchelp.cbc.ca/hc/en-ca/requests/new
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-democrats-trump-impeachment-1.5865921#vf-all_threads-6256400020053
CBC disabled post