Bill C-83

Prisons are badly failing to comply with solitary confinement laws and regularly violating inmate' rights, a new report by a group of Canadian senators says.

The Liberals are poised to reject a number of the Senate's amendments to a bill that aims to end solitary confinement — changes many lawyers and human rights advocates say are necessary to make the bill constitutional.

Prisoner isolation, declared unconstitutional 18 months ago, will remain legal for now after Canada's top court granted Ottawa's urgent request to allow the current law to stay in force for the time being.

A bill that aims to end solitary confinement has passed in the Senate with a number of amendments — changes a large group of lawyers and law societies say are necessary to ensure the bill stays on the right side of the law.

Changes the Senate wants to make to a bill on solitary confinement in Canadian prisons are in keeping with recommendations from the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, says the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.

Ashley Smith's mother and sister say they are furious with the Trudeau government for invoking her name in the rollout of a bill that purports to end solitary confinement in Canada's prisons — a bill they say is highly flawed.

A committee of senators has approved changes to a bill that aims to end solitary confinement in Canadian prisons — including one key change that would place a 48-hour maximum on the time an inmate can be kept in isolation.

Canada's parole officers say the country's corrections system is at a breaking point due to workloads that are "insurmountable" — a situation they say poses real risks to public safety.

Bill C-83 proposes significant changes to solitary confinement. It will mandate that Correctional Service Canada dedicate the appropriate human resources for sustained rehabilitative efforts. Until now, the opportunity for parole officers, program officers, and teachers to spend quality time with the highest needs offenders has been minimal if any at all.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is disputing claims that a bill to end solitary confinement in Canada's prisons is merely "linguistic trickery" that maintains the practice under a different name.

Ontario's top court has asked the federal government for more information before deciding whether Canada's segregation laws will become invalid next month.

British Columbia's top court is set to hear the federal government's appeal of a ruling that said indefinite solitary confinement of prisoners is unconstitutional and causes permanent harm.