Ontario jail lockdowns slammed by experts as part of class-action lawsuits seeking $1.5B

Hundreds of pages of documents written by experts for two class-action lawsuits paint a picture of Ontario's corrections system as inhumane and poorly managed.

The two class actions against the province take aim at the use of lockdowns in Ontario correctional facilities as a way to deal with staffing shortages from 2009 to 2017. One lawsuit seeks damages for inmates during that time, while the other asks for damages for immigration detainees, who are sometimes held in such facilities. The attorney general of Canada is also named as a defendant in that lawsuit.

A lockdown occurs when inmates or detainees are kept in their cells for an extended period of time — possibly hours or days — and are unable to participate in daily activities, such as outdoor exercise, showers, phone calls or programs.

Lockdowns can happen for a number of reasons, including during security incidents. However, the lawsuits allege that lockdowns due to staffing issues became "chronic" and have caused severe and continuing damage to those affected.

Data obtained by CBC Toronto through a freedom of information request reveals there were an average of 440 full facility staffing-related lockdowns reported across the province each year between 2010 and 2017. That's on top of hundreds more "partial" lockdowns, where only certain sections of a facility were affected. The reporting requirements were different for 2009.

The lawsuits are seeking a combined $1.5 billion in damages for negligence.

"The easiest, cheapest and cruellest way to deal with a staffing problem is to do a lockdown. And every time the opportunity presented itself, that's what Ontario chose," Scott Hutchison, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said in an interview with CBC Toronto.

Between the two class actions, Hutchison said there are more than 100,000 potential claimants. Ontario currently has 24 facilities spread among correctional centres, detention centres and jails, according to the Ministry of Correctional Services website.

The lawsuits were certified as class actions in 2017. The expert reports, which were served on the defendants, represent a significant step forward in the cases ahead of a trial date expected in 2025.

In their statements of defence, the Ontario and federal governments have denied any negligence.

The reports filed by the plaintiffs come from six experts, including academics with backgrounds in international human rights law, corrections and psychiatry.

One of the experts, Michael Weinrath, wrote that he was "puzzled" when first asked to write a report, since he has not encountered staffing-related lockdowns as a regular practice at correctional facilities he's visited elsewhere in Canada, as well as in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

"Ontario is alone in its use of this callous practice," wrote Weinrath, a criminal justice professor at the University of Winnipeg who formerly worked in corrections.

The expert reports also highlight the long-term mental health consequences of frequent lockdowns. In his report, Dr. Adekunle Garba Ahmed, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, said the impacts of lockdowns are similar to those of solitary confinement and can worsen existing mental health conditions or create new ones.