Seite - 376 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE376 challenges Ontario encountered in implementing adequate institu- tional prevention measures, and with the fact that Quebec is one of the few provinces where depopulation measures were not taken.49 In federal prisons, the failure to depopulate and the shortcom- ings of the prevention measures taken have likely contributed to the 333 infected people reported on May 15, 2020,50 and the two deaths.51 This means that the rate of infection among this population is over 13 times higher than in the community (13.16 vs. 0.99 cases per 1000).52 Federally incarcerated women have been the most affected by the infection. The rate of infection in women’s penitentiaries was 77 times higher than among women in the community.53 The inadequacy of some of the prison responses to COVID-19 raises significant legal and ethical issues; I will now turn to those issues. Legal and Ethical Concerns Regarding Prison Responses to COVID-19 Given the historic failures to ensure the health of prisoners,54 there is reason to be concerned about the dearth of information on the pro- tocols adopted by any of the prison systems across the country and about the lack of oversight of the implementation of those protocols by public health and human rights agencies. Additionally, the high rates of infection and the inadequate implementation of preventive measures and treatment in some prisons suggest that at least some prison systems may be in breach of the international and statutory duties owed to incarcerated people. 49. Ibid. 50. Anthony Doob, supra note 33, at 10; Correctional Service Canada, Inmate COVID- 19  Testing  in  Federal  Correctional  Institutions  (May  10,  2020),  (Ottawa: Correctional Service Canada, 10 May 2020), online: Correctional Service Canada <www.csc-scc. gc.ca/001/006/001006-1014-en.shtml>. 51. “Inmate at Mission Institution Dies of COVID-19 Complications”, CBC News (16 April 2020), online: <perma.cc/TS44-DAV6>; Selena Ross, “A Second Inmate in a Canadian Federal Prison has Died of COVID-19”, CTV News Montreal (5 May 2020), online: <perma.cc/FR8N-X9Q6>. 52. Ibid. 53. Anthony Doob, supra note 33, at 10. 54. See e.g. Adelina Iftene, supra note 13; Adam Miller, “Prison Health Care Inequality”, CMAJ 2013 185(6), 249; Adelina Iftene and Allan Manson, “Recent Crime Legislation: The Challenge for Prison Health Care” (9 July 2013) 185:10 CMAJ 886; Ontario, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Corrections in Ontario: Directions for Reform, Independent Review, (Toronto: Ministry of the Solicitor General, September 2017) at 216.