OTTAWA — Senator Kim Pate is raising questions about the safety of federal prisoner transports after the death of Kiara Mooswa in a Correctional Service Canada (CSC) vehicle crash last week.
Mooswa was killed along with two CSC officers, Nicole Serban and Ramandeep Kaur Maan, when the vehicle transporting her from the Edmonton Institution for Women to the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Saskatchewan was involved in a collision in Alberta. The cause remains under investigation.
"I hope that she wasn't in a cage,” said Pate. “Was Kiara in restraints? I’m hoping that she was not confined in the back in a metal transport or cage.”
Concerns about transport vehicles
Pate questioned the circumstances of the collision, which remains under investigation.
“I have no idea what the circumstances are, and so I don’t want to presume that someone did something incorrectly,” said Pate.
But the senator raised concerns about the design of prisoner transport vehicles, saying that some feature metal cages or benches where individuals are shackled and secured.
“If a van rolls or something and the person is in restraints and can’t escape, they can’t escape a dangerous situation.”
The concerns raised by Pate echo warnings issued repeatedly by the Office of the Correctional Investigator. In his 2019-2020 Annual Report, Correctional Investigator Dr. Ivan Zinger wrote about the dangers of the CSC escort vehicles.
“Completely enclosed in metal, the compartment insert where shackled prisoners are kept is totally devoid of any comfort or safety feature, including seatbelts,” wrote Zinger. “These vehicles, which are essentially retrofitted and modified family minivans (e.g. Dodge Caravan), were never designed or crash-tested with a metal compartment of this size. Should there be an accident, as occurred in New Brunswick in 2013, individuals within the compartment would literally be thrown around inside, which could result in critical injury or even death.”
Zinger said the prototype for the replacement of CSC’s security escort vehicles had similar “disregard for health, safety, space, dignity or comfort of inmate passengers.”
Zinger recommended that the replacement fleet of CSC escort vehicles be equipped with appropriate safety equipment for inmate passengers, including hand holds and seatbelts, and that any prototype vehicle be inspected by Transport Canada authorities before being put into production and service.
He warned that if CSC fails to equip vehicles with seatbelts, “it will be in violation of the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
Pate said that because Mooswa was being transferred to a healing lodge that typically only accepts minimum-security inmates, she should not have been in restraints. But she said she had no confirmation of what conditions Mooswa faced.
Questions about Indigenous women in federal custody
The senator also linked the tragedy to broader systemic failures, pointing to the need for community-based alternatives for Indigenous people in custody. She called for the implementation of recommendations from the Arbour Commission, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the MMIWG Calls to Action, as well as the passage of Bill S-205, also known as Tona’s Law.
The legislation would shift the onus to corrections to demonstrate why an Indigenous person can’t serve their sentence in their home community.
“If that had been in place for Poundmaker or Red Pheasant — if they had wanted her to serve her sentence in the community and be part of the community and be held accountable in the community — then Bill S-205 would have required corrections to show why that wasn't viable,” said Pate. “Right now, the onus rests on the individual to fight for that right.”
Pate said that risk assessment tools used by corrections have been deemed “racist and discriminatory” by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, resulting in Indigenous women being disproportionately classified as higher security and unable to access community-based provisions.
“I think it speaks to the need to have community First Nation-based supports and services where people can be held accountable,” said Pate. “It's why we are advocating the implementation of the Arbour Commission, TRC and MMIWG Calls to Action and for Justice, the Senate Human Rights Report on the Human Rights of Federally Sentenced Persons, and Bill S-205.”
“This is a 24-year-old,” said Pate. “Why couldn't some other measures have been taken much earlier to provide different opportunities for her?
Prisoner advocate remembers Mooswa
On Monday morning, prisoner advocate Sherri Gordon led the Walk for Justice at the Saskatchewan legislature, an annual memorial event held on Prisoners’ Justice Day. Gordon honoured Mooswa’s memory and expressed grief over the tragedy.
“This is an absolutely devastating tragedy,” said Gordon, founder of Beyond Prison Walls Canada Society Inc.
“Three people lost their lives, three families are now grieving loved ones who will never come home.”
Gordon commended Correctional Service Canada for publicly acknowledging Mooswa and extending condolences to her family, friends and community. But she said she was “extremely disappointed” that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response acknowledged the two correctional officers but didn’t acknowledge Mooswa’s death.
“That omission matters,” said Gordon. “Kiara was a daughter, a mother and a loved one. She leaves behind children who will never see their mother come home. No person's life becomes less valuable because they are incarcerated, and no life lost in this tragedy should be treated as more worthy of mourning than another.”
Gordon said women at Edmonton Institution for Women are grieving Mooswa, describing her as a young woman who worked hard, participated in programing and was progressing through her correctional plan. Elders from the Edmonton Institution came to the prison to grieve with the women on their units.
Calls for improved transport safety
Kim Beaudin, former vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, also called for improved inmate transport safety.
“I did bring up transportation safety at our Indigenous communities for corrections,” he said, referring to community-based alternatives to federal prisons such as healing lodges.
Pate said the tragedy underscores the need to examine why one in two women in Canada’s federal prison system are Indigenous.
Pate said the Senate could investigate the matter further if a committee chose to study it, but added that CSC “has a very poor history of transparency” and expressed hope that the new commissioner would change that.
“My hope is that in the future, individuals who are in situations where their communities want them to be in the community paying back, being held accountable, that should be prioritized, and that the sovereignty of those First Nations and other Indigenous communities should have those options provided to them.”
ljoy@sasktoday.ca
