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OFFICE OF THE CORRECTIONAL
INVESTIGATOR DEPARTMENTAL PERFORMANCE REPORT
For the
period ending
March 31, 2000
_____________________________________
Lawrence MacAulay, P.C., M.P.
Solicitor General of Canada
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Section I: Message
1.1 Correctional Investigator’s Message
Section II: Agency Performance
2.1 Societal Context
2.2 Performance Results Expectations and Chart of
Key Results Commitments
2.3 Performance Accomplishments
Section III: Financial Performance
3.1 Financial Performance Overview
Section IV: Agency Overview
4.1 Mandate
4.2 Mission Statement
4.3 Agency
4.4 Organization Chart
Section V: Other Information
5.1 Contacts for Further Information and Agency
Website
5.2 Legislation and Associated Regulations
Administered
5.3 Statutory Annual Reports and Other Agency
Reports.
Section I: Message
1.1 Correctional Investigator’s
Message
I am mandated as an Ombudsman for federal corrections. The Office carries
out this function within an environment that has traditionally been
closed to public scrutiny with a high level of mistrust between the
keepers and the kept.
I am firmly committed to the Ombudsman concept and believe that the
provisions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act provide
for a process through which the vast majority of individual and systemic
concerns can be reasonably addressed. It is important for all parties to
appreciate that the Correctional Investigator is neither an agent of the
Correctional Service of Canada nor the advocate of every complainant or
interest group that lodges a complaint. I am mandated to investigate
complaints from an independent and neutral position and in cases where
there is evidence of unfairness, make appropriate recommendations
concerning corrective action.
This past year has been eventful for all parties involved in Federal
Corrections. The legislative review of the Corrections and Conditional
Release Act has been completed and many important changes proposed.
The Office has pursued its agenda of operational improvement in order to
further optimize the value and quality of its services to Canadians.
I look forward to the challenges of the coming years and anticipate a
continued open and cooperative working relationship with our partners in
the corrections field so as to ensure that offender concerns are
addressed within an environment that promotes openness, accountability
and fairness in decision making. Canadian society is indeed better served
and protected when everyone involved in Corrections strives steadfastly
towards the fair, humane and equitable treatment of offenders.
R.L. Stewart
Correctional
Investigator
Section II: Agency Performance
2.1 Societal Context
Objective
To act as an Ombudsman on behalf of offenders by thoroughly and
objectively reviewing a wide spectrum of administrative actions and
presenting findings and recommendations to an equally broad spectrum of
decision makers, inclusive of Parliament.
Strategic
Priorities
-
Improve management practices and operations strategies;
-
Increase awareness of the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s
mandate;
-
Establish a more effective process, in cooperation with the
Correctional Service of Canada, for resolving both individual and
systemic areas of concern.
Key Co-delivery
Partners
In October 1999, the Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Correctional Service. The intent of this agreement is to assist both
agencies in addressing areas of offender concern in an objective,
thorough and timely fashion. Accordingly, the quality and timeliness of
actions taken by the Correctional Service in response to the Office's
findings and recommendations will remain of paramount importance.
In addition, this year the Office met with the National Associations
Active In Criminal Justice (NAACJ) to review areas of mutual concern.
These linkages highlight the value placed by various criminal justice
agencies on the Office's contribution to the betterment of corrections.
2.2 Performance Results
Expectations and Chart of Key Results Commitments
To provide Canadians with: |
to be demonstrated by: |
an independent and impartial review agency to
investigate problems of federal offenders related to
decisions, recommendations, acts or omissions of the
Correctional Service of Canada. |
- the number of offenders using the services of the Office
- the Office’s accessibility to the offender population
- the offender population’s confidence in and
understanding of the Office
- the opinions of government and non-government agencies
involved in federal corrections
- the results of the actions taken by the Correctional
Service in response to the Office’s findings and
recommendations
|
Key Results
Commitments, Planned Results, Related Activities and
Resources
Key Results Commitments |
To provide Canadians with:
an independent and impartial review agency to
investigate problems of federal offenders related to
decisions, recommendations, acts or omissions of the
Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). |
Planned Results |
- An effective, thorough, impartial and independent review
process of all complaints made by or on behalf of federal
offenders.
- An Office which is accessible to the offender population
and to all other parties who wish to file a complaint on
their behalf.
- An effective, thorough, impartial and independent review
process of all CSC Investigations convened pursuant to
section 19 of the Corrections and Conditional Release
Act (inmate death or serious bodily injury) and of
interventions by Institutional Emergency Response Teams
(IERTs).
- Demonstrated leadership in identifying and
addressing
systemic problems and emerging issues in
Corrections.
- A multi-faceted, dynamic and responsive communications
strategy.
- Confidence and understanding of the Canadian public,
including federal offenders, vis-à-vis the Office’s role,
mandate and services.
- Positive results of the actions taken by the
Correctional Service of Canada in response to the Office’s
findings and recommendations.
|
Related Activities |
- Deal effectively, thoroughly, impartially and
independently with all complaints made by or on behalf of
federal offenders.
- Visit all federal institutions on a regular basis and
interview offenders who have a complaint.
- Maintain a toll-free telephone line for offenders
experiencing problems of an urgent nature and to provide
easier access to the Office for Canadians from coast to
coast.
- Review all CSC Investigations as per section 19 of the
Corrections and Conditional Release Act and all
interventions of Institutional Emergency Response Teams
(IERTs) in an effective, thorough, impartial and independent
fashion.
- Undertake any other investigative activity it deems
necessary to carry out its primary mandate.
- Continue to inform federal offenders and other Canadians
of its mandate, role and services through all available
media, inclusive of its own website.
- Maintain an open, honest and professional working
relationship with the Correctional Service of Canada, in
keeping with our Memorandum of Understanding.
|
Resources ($thousands) |
|
2.3 Performance
Accomplishments
Resources Utilized
Towards Accomplishments Office of the Correctional
Investigator
Planned Spending |
1,768,000 |
Total Authorities |
2,183,403 |
1999-2000 Actuals |
2,007,493 |
The primary function of the Correctional Investigator is to independently
investigate and attempt to bring resolution to individual offender
complaints. The Office as well has a responsibility to review and make
recommendations on the Service’s policies and procedures associated with
the areas of individual complaint to ensure that systemic areas of
concern are identified and appropriately addressed (i.e. transfers, case
management, etc.). In so doing the Office aims to assure the Canadian
public that the federal correctional system is managed efficiently,
equitably and fairly.
All complaints received by the Office are reviewed and initial inquiries
made to the extent necessary to obtain a clear understanding of the issue
in question. After this initial review, in those cases where it is
determined that the area of complaint is outside our mandate, the
complainant is advised of the appropriate avenue of redress and assisted
when necessary in accessing that avenue. For those cases that are within
our mandate, the complainant is provided with a detailing of the
Service’s policies and procedures associated with the area of complaint.
Where deemed necessary, an interview is arranged with the offender.
In addition to responding to individual complaints, the Office meets
regularly with inmate committees and other offender organizations and
makes announced visits bi-annually at each institution during which the
investigator will meet with any inmate, or group of inmates, upon
request.
TABLE 1
From 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000, the Office received a total of 5,427
contacts with or on behalf of offenders, an increase of some 998 from the
previous fiscal year. This improvement relfects the Office's greater
accessibility to the offender population It also underscores the
continued confidence of offenders in the Office, as a viable recourse for
problem resolution, and their greater understanding of our mandate, role
and responsibilities.
TABLE 2
Also, in the course of the present reporting year, the Office’s
investigative staff spent 364 days at federal penitentiaries, an increase
of some 84 from the previous year and conducted 2,881 interviews with
inmates, some 668 interviews more than in the previous year.
As illustrated by the above tables, Fiscal Year 1999-2000 saw a marked
improvement in all of the Office's primary mandate performance indicators
after many years of gradual decline. This better state of affairs can
first be explained by the budgetary increase afforded the Office, its
first since 1992, which allowed the hiring, on a contractual basis, of
three (3) more employees. Other contributory factors were the
productivity gains achieved through the implementation of the Auditor
General's recommendations, notably in the area of casework information
processing and management.
In order to comply with the recommendations of the Arbour Commission, the
Office reviewed 451 Institutional Emergency Response Team (IERT)
videotapes and other documentation related to Use of Force incidents,
compared to 243 in the previous year. We also reviewed 143 Correctional
Service of Canada investigation reports pursuant to Section 19 of the
Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA). Further to these
reviews, the Office formulated a significant number of recommendations to
the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), many of which led to noteworthy
improvements by CSC to institutional management, correctional programs,
policies and procedures.
Section III: Financial Performance
3.1 Financial Performance
Overview
This fiscal year saw this Office's budget increase for the first time
since 1992. These additional funds provided some relief from the
significant resources pressures the Office had been experiencing as a
result of legislative and other changes to its mandate and the
implementation of recommendations made by the Auditor General.
Three new staff were hired and the Office's primary mandate performance
indicators improved after years of gradual decline.
The following tables are those which apply to the agency:
Financial Table 1
Summary of Voted Appropriations
Financial Requirements by Authority
(thousands of dollars) |
Vote |
1999-00 |
|
Planned Spending |
Total Authorities |
Actual |
Office of the Correctional
Investigator |
|
|
|
30. Operating expenditures |
1568 |
1952 |
1776 |
(S) Contribution to Employee Benefits
Plan |
200 |
231 |
231 |
Total Agency |
1768 |
2183 |
2007 |
Financial Table 2
Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual
Spending
Agency Planned Versus Actual Spending
(thousands of dollars) |
|
1999-00 |
Business Line |
Planned |
Total Authorities |
Actual |
FTEs |
17 |
17 |
17 |
Operating |
1768 |
2183 |
2007 |
Capital |
- |
- |
- |
Voted Grants and Contributions |
- |
- |
- |
Subtotal: Gross Voted Expenditures |
1768 |
2183 |
2007 |
Less: Respendable Revenues |
- |
- |
- |
Total Net
Expenditures |
1768 |
2183 |
2007 |
Other Revenues and Expenditures |
|
|
|
Non-respendable Revenues |
- |
- |
- |
Cost of services provided by other
departments |
122 |
122 |
122 |
Net Cost of the
Program |
1890 |
2305 |
2129 |
Financial Table 3
Historical
Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual Spending
Historical Comparison of Agency
Planned versus Actual Spending (thousands of
dollars) |
1999-00 |
|
Actual 1997-98 |
Actual 1998-99 |
Planned Spending |
Total Authorities |
Actual |
Office of the Correctional
Investigator |
1398 |
1530 |
1768 |
2183 |
2007 |
Total |
1398 |
1530 |
1768 |
2183 |
2007 |
Section IV: Agency Overview
4.1 Mandate
The Office of the Correctional Investigator was established in 1973
pursuant to Part II of the Inquiries Act. With the proclamation in
November 1992 of Part III of the Corrections and Conditional Release
Act, this is now the enabling legislation. The mandate of the
Correctional Investigator, as defined by this legislation, is to function
as an Ombudsman for federal offenders. The Correctional Investigator is
independent of the Correctional Service of Canada and may initiate an
investigation on receipt of a complaint by or on behalf of an offender,
at the request of the Minister or on his own initiative. The Correctional
Investigator is required by legislation to report annually through the
Solicitor General to both Houses of Parliament.
In addition, Section 19 of the Corrections and Conditional Release
Act requires that the Correctional Service of Canada "where an inmate
dies or suffers serious bodily injury" conduct an investigation and
provide a copy of the report to the Correctional Investigator.
4.2 Mission Statement
The Office of the Correctional Investigator is committed to maintaining
an accessible independent avenue of redress for offender complaints and
to provide timely recommendations to the Commissioner of the Correctional
Service of Canada and the Solicitor General which address the areas of
concern raised on complaint.
4.3 Agency
The Office of the Correctional Investigator has one Business Line which,
as detailed in Section 167 of the Corrections and Conditional Release
Act, is to conduct investigations into the problems of offenders
related to decisions, recommendations acts or omissions of the
Commissioner of Corrections or any person under the control and
management of, or performing service for or on behalf of the Commissioner
of Corrections that affects offenders either individually or as a group.
The Office of the Correctional Investigator is headed by the Correctional
Investigator who reports to Parliament through the Solicitor General. The
Agency’s resources provide for 17 full-time equivalents, 10 of which make
up the investigative staff. The total resources are $2,183,000 for the
fiscal year 1999-2000.
4.4 Organization Chart
Section V: Other Information
5.1 Contacts for Further Information
and Agency Website
Name |
Title |
Address |
Tel. No. |
Fax No. |
R.L. Stewart |
Correctional Investigator |
275 Slater Street Room 402 Ottawa,
Ontario K1P 5H9 |
(613) 990-2689 |
(613) 990-9091 |
Ed McIsaac |
Executive Director |
275 Slater Street Room 402 Ottawa,
Ontario K1P 5H9 |
(613) 990-2691 |
(613) 990-9091 |
Agency website: www.oci-bec.gc.ca
5.2 Legislation and Associated
Regulations Administered
Corrections and
Conditional Release Act, Part III. (R.S.C., 1992, Ch. 20).
5.3 Statutory Annual Reports and Other
Agency Reports.
Annual Report of the Correctional Investigator.
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