Ontario said Friday it will stop allowing the federal government to hold immigration detainees in its jails, effectively putting an end to the controversial practice across the country.
The decision comes after seven provinces have already cancelled their agreements with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), beginning last summer with B.C.
Quebec made the , leaving Ontario, home to roughly half of all immigration detainees in the country, as the last major holdout.
鈥淭his is an incredible victory,鈥 said Hanna Gros, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, which has long campaigned against the use of jails for immigration detention. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a monumental win for human rights, for migrant and refugee rights.鈥
Canada鈥檚 use of maximum-security provincial jails to hold immigration detainees 鈥 who are not charged with a crime or serving a sentence, but can be detained indefinitely 鈥 has for years drawn condemnation from human rights organizations, including the United Nations.
It was the subject of a recent 海角社区官网Star investigation, which found more than 80 per cent of immigration detainees held in Ontario鈥檚 jails last year were detained solely on the grounds they were 鈥渦nlikely to appear鈥 for their deportation, not because they were considered dangerous.
In more than half of the five dozen cases reviewed by the Star, detainees had reported mental health issues, and they were often subject to punishing conditions, including frequent lockdowns and solitary confinement.
The use of jails for immigration detention has been under particularly sharp scrutiny over the last 18 months, as to cancel their agreements with the CBSA.
After B.C. announced its decision last July, other provinces followed suit.
(Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I. and the territories are the only jurisdictions that haven鈥檛 officially cancelled their agreements, but together they accounted for less than one per cent of detentions last year.)
A spokesperson for Ontario鈥檚 Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said the decision came after a months-long review.
鈥淥ntario鈥檚 correctional institutions should be focused on providing care and custody to individuals serving custodial sentences or on remand, not on immigration detainees, which is the federal government鈥檚 responsibility,鈥 Hunter Kell said in an emailed statement.
As per the terms of the agreement, Ontario must give the CBSA a year鈥檚 notice before termination, so the decision won鈥檛 take effect until next June.
Immigration lawyers interviewed by the Star welcomed Ontario鈥檚 decision, but criticized the CBSA and the federal government for not stopping the practice themselves.
鈥淭he fact that the CBSA did nothing until the provinces forced their hand is inexcusable,鈥 said Jared Will, who has challenged the constitutionality of Canada鈥檚 immigration detention system and represented several detainees in court. 鈥淚n the many years that this has been a live issue I have never heard an intelligible justification for the practice, which has been found to constitute cruel and unusual treatment and is a brazen violation of Canada鈥檚 obligations under international law.鈥
Subodh Bharati, another lawyer who has long argued against the use of jails for immigration detention, said he felt 鈥渞elief鈥 and 鈥渏oy鈥 about Ontario鈥檚 decision, but said he has 鈥渘o faith鈥 the federal government is 鈥渟uddenly going to start respecting the human rights and Charter rights of those caught up in the immigration system.鈥
Bharati, who has filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of immigration detainees held in jails, noted that Ottawa continues to defend the practice in court.
Public Safety Canada directed questions for this story to the CBSA, which did not respond.
Immigration detainees are non-citizens who have been arrested by the CBSA and detained on one or a combination of three grounds: if the agency believes they are a 鈥渇light risk鈥 or 鈥渦nlikely to appear鈥 for their deportation; they are a 鈥渄anger to the public,鈥 typically due to criminal convictions for which they have already served their sentence; or if their identity is in doubt.
While the grounds for detention are reviewed by the quasi-judicial Immigration and Refugee Board, the CBSA alone decides whether a detainee is sent to a maximum-security provincial jail or an immigration holding centre, a less restrictive detention facility specifically for immigration detainees. There is no external oversight of that decision.
Jails account for roughly half of all days spent in immigration detention.
Ontario鈥檚 decision comes four months after a coroner鈥檚 inquest into the death of Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan, a refugee from Somalia with severe mental illness who spent three years in a maximum security jail in Lindsay, Ont., before he died in a Peterborough hospital following a struggle with police officers. The inquest jury鈥檚 top recommendation was to end the use of jails for immigration detention.
With nearly every province now refusing to allow the CBSA to use its jails, it鈥檚 unclear what the agency will do with the immigration detainees it considers to be too 鈥渉igh risk鈥 for the immigration holding centres.
Some lawyers and human rights advocates worried the CBSA would turn to federal prisons or make the holding centres more restrictive, rather than reducing detentions overall.
鈥淭he agency鈥檚 track record on this issue is no cause for solace,鈥 Will said. 鈥淏ut Ontario鈥檚 decision certainly presents an opportunity for them to do the right thing.鈥
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