Leaderless since January, the Office of the Correctional Investigator is still investigating complaints from incarcerated people and making regular visits to prisons, but has been left out of key discussions amid government-wide budget cuts.
Serving an ombud’s role gives a great deal of power to investigate Canada’s prison system, says Ivan Zinger, but his powers are ultimately limited to making recommendations.
Recent discourse on bail reform is pushing law and policy in a direction that will harm rather than protect Canadians by further restricting access to an already onerous bail system while seemingly ignoring social science research.
Former police officer Gregory Brown says the lack of sufficient accountability and supervision of bail conditions are the criminal justice system’s ‘dirty little secret.’
