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Orazietti faces backlash, pressure to end man's four-year solitary confinement (update)

One Twitter user suggests Sault MPP David Orazietti should spend a week in isolation
David Orazietti stock shot1
FILE PHOTO: Sault MPP David Orazietti. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday

The following statement by David Orazietti, community safety minister, was sent at 4:07 p.m. today:

The conditions being described in relation to segregation in Ontario are unacceptable. We take the care and well-being for our inmates and staff very seriously.  

I can confirm that Mr. Capay is no longer in a segregation unit. His current cell is equipped with lights that can be dimmed. 

He has access to a dayroom and spends time out of his cell for showers, phone calls and TV. Mr Capay has requested to remain in the new cell, rather than being moved to another facility. We will continue to consult with the individual and his lawyer to ensure his needs are being met, including the physical location of the cell.

Our goal in every individual case is that segregation is used only as a last resort, when all other options have been exhausted. I have ordered a more comprehensive, external review on the correctional system as a whole.

We have been working to reduce the use of segregation in Ontario’s institutions, but I know that more needs to be done as we move forward with a transformation our correctional system.  

Original 1 p.m. story:

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Sault Ste. Marie’s member of provincial parliament is facing an online backlash over remarks he made about an indigenous prisoner’s four-year stint in segregation.

In a Globe and Mail article published yesterday, Community Safety Minister David Orazietti  said holding prisoners in segregation for years on end and without trial is sometimes necessary because of space limits, but “is not ideal.”

The Globe’s questions were in regard to Adam Capay, a 23-year-old indigenous man, who had been in isolation in a Thunder Bay jail since he was charged in connection with the 2012 death of another inmate.

Since the publishing of the article, many Twitter users have questioned Orazietti’s wording of the situation and a petition asking for the release of Capay from segregation has reached over 4,000 signatures.

TBNewswatch in Thunder Bay quoted a correctional union official yesterday as saying Capay's segregation was 'for the safety of staff, other inmates, and Capay himself.'

The ministry recently announced changes to rules surrounding segregation in prisons and jails in Ontario, reducing the maximum time an inmate can spend in disciplinary isolation to 15 days from the previous 30.


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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