Page - 11 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

11Introduction past two years: CBC News reports that in 2019, less than 1.5% of long- term care homes received annual inspections.35 Overcrowding is a well-documented feature of prisons and immi- gration detention centres around the world, caused by a combination of punitive criminal laws and policies around bail, inadequate community mental health services, harsh sentences for convicted offenders, and other factors.36 Access to healthy food, hygiene products, and health care—the most basic obligations owed by the state to individuals in its care—are persistent problems.37 The response to COVID-19 in federal and provin- cial prisons has been to increase lockdowns and/or segregation.38 While jail staff in most Canadian prisons now appear to have access to personal protective equipment (PPE), prisoners in many facilities remain with- out access to masks and gloves.39 With the majority of trials adjourned indefinitely, prisoners on remand face periods of pre-trial detention of uncertain length in conditions of great stress and exposure.40 Slaughterhouses have long been considered sites of insecurity and risk for workers.41 In recent decades, government regulation has 35. Katie Pedersen, Melissa Mancini & David Common, “Ontario Scaled Back Comprehensive, Annual Inspections of Nursing Homes to Only a Handful Last Year”, CBC News (15 April 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ seniors-homes-inspections-1.5532585>. 36. “Reasonable Bail?” (September 2013), online (pdf): John  Howard  Society  of  Ontario <https://johnhoward.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/JHSO-Reasonable-Bail- report-final.pdf>. 37. Adelina Iftene, this volume, Chapter D-5; Deepan Budlakoti, “The Ottawa Jail Is No Vacation – Especially During COVID-19”, Ottawa  Citizen (22 May 2020), online: <https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/budlakoti-the-ottawa-jail-is-no-vacation- especially-during-covid-19>. 38. Iftene, this volume, Chapter D-5; Criminalization and Punishment Education Project, News Release, “Government of Ontario Needs to Take Additional Steps to Reduce the Use and Harms of Imprisonment at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre During the COVID-19 Crisis” (6 April 2020), online: Criminalization and Punishment Education Project <https://cp-ep.org/new-press-release-via-cpep/>; Office of the Correctional Investigator, COVID-19  Status  Update (Ottawa: Office of the Correctional Investigator, 23 April 2020), online (pdf): Office  of  the  Correctional  Investigator <https://perma.cc/DT46-PADV>; Stephen Hoff, “Jail Guards Want COVID-19 Screening at Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre”, CBC News (1 April 2020), online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/active- monitoring-ocdc-covid19-1.5516645>. 39. Iftene, this volume, Chapter D-5; Budlakoti, supra note 37; J.A.I.L. Account- ability and Information Line, “People at the Ottawa Jail Echo This Demand!” (8 May 2020 at 15:34), online: Twitter <https://twitter.com/jail_line/status/ 1258842842916626433>. 40. Budlakoti, ibid. 41. Sarah Berger Richardson, “COVID-19 Disruption Reveals Challenges in our Meat Supply”, The Province (16 April 2020), online: <https://theprovince.com/