THIS APPLIES ACROSS CANADA
Opinion: All workers and inmates in Saskatchewan jails need to be vaccinated now
James Gacek
As Regina Correctional Centre faces yet another COVID-19 outbreak, the provincial government’s handling of the virus in jails can hardly be considered a success. Health Minister Paul Merriman continues to suggest that his vaccine approach is working ; that is, that correctional centres are safe “contained” spaces for inmates and staff. This is a ludicrous position to take
Disease and virus transmission (including needle sharing) was already rampant in these spaces;
Cells are double, if not triple, bunked, making safe physical distancing near impossible;
Ventilation systems in correctional centres have not been properly maintained or redressed;
Bureaucratic delays of prescriptions for inmates;
Lack of visits from nurses, health-care practitioners and counsellors;
An inability to secure medical aids like prosthetics and crutches.
In short, health care in Canadian jails is abysmal, even on the best days. With the pandemic, health-care problems have only gone from bad to worse.
This is why the provincial government’s vaccine approach to jails can’t be taken seriously. “Contained” spaces does not mean that these spaces are clean or hygienic. It does not mean that inmates or prison staff can safely self-isolate. “Contained” spaces remain contagious spaces.
This creates dangerous conditions for inmates, prison staff, their families and their communities, especially when inmates are released or staff are off shift. Upon release, many inmates (who are too often racialized, already marginalized individuals) return to their congregate spaces in the community, to multi-generational homes (where self-isolation and physical distancing is near impossible) and where the chances are great that those living in these home are low-paid, precarious workers deemed “essential.”
Jail staff repeatedly suggest they are frustrated with the province’s handling of vaccinations , and remain fearful of bringing home the virus to their families. The outbreak at RCC gives the virus room to grow, and the province’s mismanagement of jails aids this growth. Risky populations, and those caring over risky populations (like jail staff), become populations at risk of getting the virus. Decisions about who should get vaccinated should be based on risk to public health. If you have a risky population, they should be moved up the priority list. To suggest then, as Merriman does, that “contained” spaces, are somehow separate or removed from Regina or other Saskatchewan communities is short-sighted of the government. The province needs to do more to protect inmates and staff, and the province’s vaccine approach remains indifferent and uncaring to these populations at risk.
A meaningful vaccine approach would seriously consider the pleas by inmates and staff. This approach would pave the way open for a broader conversation about meaningful health care in the provincial correctional system itself. The pandemic has opened up the discussion around Canadian health care at large, raising issues about how we treat people. Why does the province feel like we can exclude jail staff, let alone inmates, from this conversation? The exclusion of these voices from discussion should concern the public, especially the exclusion of inmates. Inmates are people, and these people form part of our public. While people have committed crimes, the pandemic isn’t part of their sentence. Provincial governments are tasked with ensuring the care and custody of their provincial inmates and staff, and this government, under the helm of Premier Scott Moe, is no exception. From Merriman’s statement to the media, we can see the custody — but where is the care?
As a great thinker by the name of Stanley Cohen put it eloquently in another context, there are a variety of ways of not knowing, or avoiding knowledge, about the suffering of others. The challenge then lies in thinking harder about whether the provincial government will be appropriately held accountable to its decisions about provincial jails, and the ways in which the public can be empowered to impact these decisions. Now is the time to increase the care in jails. Now is the time to vaccinate everyone inside of them.
James Gacek is an assistant professor in the Department of Justice Studies at the University of Regina.
James Gacek
As Regina Correctional Centre faces yet another COVID-19 outbreak, the provincial government’s handling of the virus in jails can hardly be considered a success. Health Minister Paul Merriman continues to suggest that his vaccine approach is working ; that is, that correctional centres are safe “contained” spaces for inmates and staff. This is a ludicrous position to take
.
© Provided by Leader Post The Regina Provincial Correctional Centre.
Pre-pandemic, prison researchers around the country were calling for safer, hygienic conditions in provincial jails across Canada.
Pre-pandemic, prison researchers around the country were calling for safer, hygienic conditions in provincial jails across Canada.
Our work demonstrates:
Disease and virus transmission (including needle sharing) was already rampant in these spaces;
Cells are double, if not triple, bunked, making safe physical distancing near impossible;
Ventilation systems in correctional centres have not been properly maintained or redressed;
Bureaucratic delays of prescriptions for inmates;
Lack of visits from nurses, health-care practitioners and counsellors;
An inability to secure medical aids like prosthetics and crutches.
In short, health care in Canadian jails is abysmal, even on the best days. With the pandemic, health-care problems have only gone from bad to worse.
This is why the provincial government’s vaccine approach to jails can’t be taken seriously. “Contained” spaces does not mean that these spaces are clean or hygienic. It does not mean that inmates or prison staff can safely self-isolate. “Contained” spaces remain contagious spaces.
This creates dangerous conditions for inmates, prison staff, their families and their communities, especially when inmates are released or staff are off shift. Upon release, many inmates (who are too often racialized, already marginalized individuals) return to their congregate spaces in the community, to multi-generational homes (where self-isolation and physical distancing is near impossible) and where the chances are great that those living in these home are low-paid, precarious workers deemed “essential.”
Jail staff repeatedly suggest they are frustrated with the province’s handling of vaccinations , and remain fearful of bringing home the virus to their families. The outbreak at RCC gives the virus room to grow, and the province’s mismanagement of jails aids this growth. Risky populations, and those caring over risky populations (like jail staff), become populations at risk of getting the virus. Decisions about who should get vaccinated should be based on risk to public health. If you have a risky population, they should be moved up the priority list. To suggest then, as Merriman does, that “contained” spaces, are somehow separate or removed from Regina or other Saskatchewan communities is short-sighted of the government. The province needs to do more to protect inmates and staff, and the province’s vaccine approach remains indifferent and uncaring to these populations at risk.
A meaningful vaccine approach would seriously consider the pleas by inmates and staff. This approach would pave the way open for a broader conversation about meaningful health care in the provincial correctional system itself. The pandemic has opened up the discussion around Canadian health care at large, raising issues about how we treat people. Why does the province feel like we can exclude jail staff, let alone inmates, from this conversation? The exclusion of these voices from discussion should concern the public, especially the exclusion of inmates. Inmates are people, and these people form part of our public. While people have committed crimes, the pandemic isn’t part of their sentence. Provincial governments are tasked with ensuring the care and custody of their provincial inmates and staff, and this government, under the helm of Premier Scott Moe, is no exception. From Merriman’s statement to the media, we can see the custody — but where is the care?
As a great thinker by the name of Stanley Cohen put it eloquently in another context, there are a variety of ways of not knowing, or avoiding knowledge, about the suffering of others. The challenge then lies in thinking harder about whether the provincial government will be appropriately held accountable to its decisions about provincial jails, and the ways in which the public can be empowered to impact these decisions. Now is the time to increase the care in jails. Now is the time to vaccinate everyone inside of them.
James Gacek is an assistant professor in the Department of Justice Studies at the University of Regina.
No comments:
Post a Comment