Ok, now this is going to sound interesting/wierd to all those who are unfamiliar with the Canadian Correctional Service (mainly the Americans because your system is different)..

This is how it is decided what TYPE of correctional facility a Canadian offender will spend their sentence.. what i mean is whether or not it is a provincial facility or a federal facility..

It has nothing to do with the offense itself, though obviously certain offenses maintain a required minimum sentence, but it goes like this:

Sentenced to 2 years + day and up = federal facility
Sentenced to 2 years - day and below = provincial facility

Interesting huh? There is absolutely no reason for this, it has just been this way for so many years that they continue to follow these guidlines.

What do ya think?

Hey girl,

I can offer my 2cents worth on this one!! I have some experience with both provincial and federal systems. Yes if you are sentenced to 2 years or over you go to a federal institution. Where you are elgible for parole after doing 1/3 of your sentence unless you are a dangerous offender status or a lifer. Provinical is 2 years less a day and under. Provincial you have to serve 2/3rd of your sentence. Once you are sentenced then you are classified as to where you are going to do your time. If you are provinical you usallly go to a provincial correctional facility that is not a holding jail. If you are federal you automatically go to reception ( Milhaven -ontario) and then are classified maxmium, medium or minnimum.

The differences:

Provinical
- no smoking
- no recreational activites
- you share a cell or a dorm
- you have visits behind glass
- limited or no programming avalaible
- you have to serve 2/3rds of your sentence
-if you are lucky you get to go to yard if they have time to take you out

Federal
- you can smoke
-you have your own cell
-your own clothes
-you have a tv,radio and fan if you can afford it
-your visits are open mostly unless you loose that privilge
-there are lots of programming available
-you have yard everyday if you want to go out
-you have a gym with wieghts etc
-you are more free to move around the institution within limits
-you have recreational activites(baseball ,basketball,floorhockey etc)

Of course I am in ontario and the provincial is different from province to province, but the federal is usally the same across the board.

CSC pisses me off on a daily basis and I had better luckwith the guards in the provincial bucket.

The jurdical system in canada is far from perfect, but everyday I thank god that my old man is doing his time in canada .

I would love to hear anyone elses opinion and experiences with this lovely system we have here in canada!!

A little off topic but....from the T.O. STAR.
Scarey eh ?
(I threw the eh? in just to keep our sterotype intact...n'est pas?)

Coroner's jury urges improved inmate care
Inquest says man's death was accidental
But jail's staff `missed the boat', doctor says



ROBERTA AVERY
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

MIDLAND, Ont.—The father of a convict who died after a tiny cut on his finger became infected hopes a sweeping call by a coroner's jury for improved medical treatment for inmates will prevent similar deaths.


"If Jeffrey had got proper medical treatment, maybe he would be with us today, so I'm hoping that his legacy will be that his death will bring changes for other inmates,'' said Tom Elliott on Friday, shortly after the three-man, two-woman jury found that the death of Jeffrey Elliott, 20, was accidental.


"I think it should have been homicide because the jury heard about a lot of mistakes that were made in Jeffrey's treatment,'' said Elliott of Beachburg near Pembroke.


During the inquest Dr. Paul Binhammer, a hand surgeon at Toronto's Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, said medical staff at Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene — Canada's first privately run jail — "missed the boat" in treating Elliott.


He had cut his finger on the food hatch of a fellow prisoner's cell door on Aug. 1, 2003.


By Aug. 9, Elliott's wound was seeping pus, indicating the wound was "in an advanced stage" of tenosynovitus, a serious infection of the tendons, said Binhammer.


But nurses at the jail didn't contact the doctor on call and a doctor didn't see Elliott until two days later, the jury heard.


"They didn't know how to treat this infection," said Binhammer, who was asked by the coroner to undertake an independent review of Elliott's medical care at the jail.


Binhammer told the jury Elliott "would have been well served" to have been sent to hospital as soon as Aug. 3 or 4 when his hand started to swell.


Elliott's death on Aug. 29, 2003, occurred just six months after the then-head of the emergency department at the nearby hospital told the Star inmates at the prison arrived writhing in agony because they hadn't received proper medication at the jail.


These comments echo others made previously by judges, lawyers and activists, who claimed that the for-profit institution guaranteed its bottom-line results by minimizing inmate care.


The institution denied those accusations.


It said its medical care, which is contracted out, was found adequate in two separate audits. The jail also said the care met the standards of its contract with the province.


But Peter Mount, communications director at the jail, acknowledged Friday that changes need to be made in response to the jury's recommendations.


"We are responsible for these inmates so we will review the issues raised and work toward implementing changes to help prevent this type of tragedy from happening again,'' said Mount, who sat through all seven days of the inquest.


The jury's recommendations included that:


http://www.thestar.com/images/sb_star10.gif</IMG>Medical staff at the jail ensure proper hygiene of inmates when in medical unit.


http://www.thestar.com/images/sb_star10.gif</IMG>Physicians at the jail review the management of hand infections.


http://www.thestar.com/images/sb_star10.gif</IMG>Nursing staff at the jail review the signs and symptoms of soft tissue infection.


http://www.thestar.com/images/sb_star10.gif</IMG>The jail should educate cleaning staff on the necessity of proper procedures regarding sanitation.


http://www.thestar.com/images/sb_star10.gif</IMG>All hand wounds should be properly covered to avoid infection and checked daily until healing process is noted.


http://www.thestar.com/images/sb_star10.gif</IMG>Medical department at the jail should review the allotted hours for physician coverage to facilitate optimum inmate care.


Tom Elliott, clutching a greeting card found among his son's personal effects, fought back tears as he voiced his concern that the provincial government's experiment in jails for profit might have played a role in his son's death.


"When the focus is on saving money, something ends up lacking. It's like buying something at discount store, you don't always get quality,'' said Elliott.


He travelled from Pembroke with his 78-year-old mother to attend the inquest. Utah-based Management Training Company, which runs the jail, charges the province $75 per inmate per day as part of a five-year, $141-million contract.


That compares to between $140 and $200 per day that it costs the government for each inmate in a public institution.


Medical care at the jail has been contracted out to Arizona-based First Correctional Medical. On Thursday, jail officials gave Elliott's family the greeting card, which read "Dear Dad and Grandma. Lots of love always — Jeffrey Elliott," a signet ring, a pair of broken sunglasses and his medical wristband.


After the verdict, Elizabeth Elliott held her hand with her grandson's ring on the finger to her chest.


"Jeffrey was a wonderful loving grandson who was loved by a lot of people and although he got into trouble, he wasn't a bad person,'' she said.


Mount agreed.


"Everybody at the jail said Jeffrey wasn't a hardened criminal, he was a good young man,'' he said.

I've been following that for awhile , it is scary! And they want to privatize all the jails in ontario- GOD HELP US NOW!!

I find this thread very interesting. I am Canadian...and he is American...my only experiences have been with the US system...I have often wondered what it is like in Canada...

Canadian health care is going down, inmate treatment is as expected.. POOOR! But, Canada is on the up-and-up, things are moving along, new ideas are being implemented and there are some good changes happening (by way of offender rehabilitation etc.)..

But.. WE (corrections) NEED MORE FUNDING!!! Corrections hardly gets any money for anything, and thus programs are being shut down, facilities are being shut down, and the costs for housing offenders is ridiculous!!

It costs just over or under $200 to house a male offender, and it costs over $400 (per day!) to house a female offender.. so there needs to be work done there!!

hi my bro is in and out of provinical and where he goes in bc he goes outside alot with other inmates and alone. he has to do programs before he can get released NA and others. He spents alot of time playing basketball or table tennis with other inmates. he works almost as soon as he gets in and let him get more time off his sentence. but they seem to keep him in pretail for longer periods of time then give him less when he sentenced for the about of time he spent in pretrial. he said in pretrail one day is equal to two days. I guess it different province to province and hes in new place that suppost to be state of the art

From the Ontario Criminal Lawyers Association Newsletter:

We are frequently asked whether or not your client is less likely to remain in custody with a sentence of two years less a day versus two years.
For men, classification within both federal and provincial systems can provide a variety of institutional options. Where a man is placed may determine ease of conditional release. Narrower opportunities for the release of certain categories of offenders make the provincial option less palatable for women as well as men. But for both women and men, current trends are particularly important in assessing whether the federal or provincial inmate has a better chance of conditional release.


1. There is no provincial 'day parole' and no remaining halfway houses to accommodate provincially sentenced men. A very limited number of women are being accommodated by the Elizabeth Fry Society, with various women's shelters assisting some provincially sentenced women on extended temporary absences.



2. Electronic monitoring is a limited option provincially for non-Schedule I offenders, as one qualifies only in the last six months before release.



3. Any decision to release a provincial inmate prior to one-third of his/her sentence is up to the Superintendant of the institution, whose discretion with respect to Level I offenders is severely limited by new policy guidelines.



4. A number of programs are potentially being phased out provincially, in anticipation of the closing of certain institutions, and due to budget cutting measures.





Backlog:

Before you suggest your male client pack his bag for the 'Big House', you should know that Millhaven -- the federal reception centre for Ontario -- has had a serious backlog in classifying its new inmates. Millhaven's Associate Warden, Alex Lubinoff, has announced a new specialized Accelerated Parole Review (APR) Team, which is supposed to limit the classification process for APR offenders to eight weeks. This is cold comfort if your client is not one of those who fits the criteria of the accelerated parole review candidate, or if he has already been delayed in his transit from the provincial institution.



Anyone who is serving a sentence of between two to three years (APR or otherwise) must apply for day parole virtually on arrival at Millhaven, as the National Parole Board will claim its five months to process such an application and grant a potential hearing. Hence, if you don't meet your Classification Officer for at least two months, your day parole eligibility of six months becomes much less meaningful.

In response to Debbie, yes when you are in remand (awaiting trial..) it does count 2:1 so lets say an offender stays in remand 3 months before trial, that actually counts as 6.. interesting huh?

But speaking about 2:1 it is the judge's final decsion to let "dead time" as they call it count. The judge can say they have to server there full sentence with the 2:1 deal!

I know Milhaven is backlogged, you are not suppose to be there more then 6 months ( i thinks omething like that) becuase it is reception but my old man was there for almost a year.And I also no guys who have law suits against being held at milhaven for too long!

That wonderful APR , is almost impossible to get!!

You know what the say " the more I learn about canada's justice system the more I realize it is JUST US"

thanks starduk for the infomation. hes out now anyways until the next time. but hopefully he wakes up. he just had a baby born thats addicted so hopefully thats his wake up call

Awwww.. yes i hope so too Debbie! :)

I hope so too!

thanks