Dear Editor:
As chair of the Canadian Right and Freedoms Centre, I have written to Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Anne Kelly, Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, and Jennifer Oades, Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada, urging them to facilitate and implement the release of prisoners who are deemed to be unlikely to jeopardize public safety and/or to be near their release date.
Although some may need assistance to self-isolate outside prison, this is less costly than incarceration. The release of these prisoners will address two concerns: 1) those released will be at lower risk for contracting COVID-19 than in crowded prisons, and 2) prisoners and prison staff remaining in prisons will be at lower risk if there is more space with less chance of contagion.
Correctional Service Canada reports that 170 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 at federal correctional institutions, out of 510 people tested. The Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener has nine confirmed cases now.
Ralph C. Martin,
Professor (retired),
University of Guelph