For the fourth time I have introduced a private members bill to amend solitary confinement policy.
The bill prohibits a person from being held in solitary confinement if they are pregnant, at risk of harm or suicide, have a prescribed disability or require medical observation.
The bill requires the provincial director of correctional services to publish annual disaggregated statistics on the number of individuals held in solitary confinement. This bill follows the advocacy from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the B.C. Ombudsperson, the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth and a decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal.
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BILL M210 — CORRECTION STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT
A. Olsen presented a bill intituled Correction Statutes Amendment Act, 2024.
A. Olsen: I move that a bill intituled the Correction Statutes Amendment Act, 2024, of which notice has been given in my name on the order paper, be introduced and read a first time now.
I reintroduce this bill in the House for the fourth time to continue to raise attention to the human rights of British Columbians held in corrections facilities. On any given day, like today, there are 33 individuals in solitary who have been there for longer than 15 days — some longer than 60 days. Both adults and youth are subjected to this torture.
Solitary confinement disproportionately impacts Indigenous people, in particular, Indigenous women and girls. Close to a quarter of people in solitary confinement in this province identify as Indigenous, despite making up only 6 percent of our province’s population. In February of last year, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs called solitary confinement: “Retraumatizing, abusive and a colonial form of control over Indigenous bodies.”
This bill seeks to prohibit the use of prolonged solitary confinement and change standards of living for people in the justice system. This bill prohibits a person from being held in solitary confinement if they are pregnant, at risk of harm or suicide, have a prescribed disability or require medical observation.
Finally, this bill requires the provincial director of correctional services to publish annual disaggregated statistics on the number of individuals held in solitary confinement. This bill follows the advocacy from the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the B.C. Ombudsperson, the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth and a decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal.
I want to thank the Campaign for the Abolition Of Solitary Confinement for their continued advocacy and work to keep this issue in the discussion. Thank you to the members of this chamber for their consideration of this important bill. Hopefully, we get a chance to finally debate it at second reading.
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