Very few Canadians detained in the United States are repatriated to a Canadian prison each year and the delays in processing their files by Ottawa are still very long.
A Canadian who has been convicted in the United States has the right, after a certain period of time, to ask to be transferred to a prison establishment in the country to finish serving his sentence by benefiting from rehabilitation programs and Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
A year ago, a lawyer specializing in the matter, Mr.e Jacques Normandeau, deplored that the transfers were done in dribs and drabs and that the processing times for files regularly exceeded two years – and even bordered on three years – whereas, according to him, they should not last more than twelve months.
Even if, in October 2021, Marco Mendicino replaced his colleague Bill Blair as Minister of Public Security, the situation of Canadian detainees who want to return to the country does not seem to have changed.
According to figures obtained from the Ministry, requests for transfer to Canada of 134 Canadians detained in the United States are currently active, including 25 for repatriation to prisons or penitentiaries in Quebec.
For the whole of 2021, three inmates were transferred from the United States to Canadian prisons, all in Quebec.
In 2022, until November 20, there were six.
These figures for 2021 and 2022 are lower than those of previous years.
Number of transfers from the United States to Canada
2016-2017 : 61
2017-2018 : 19
2018-2019 : 7
2019-2020 : 12
2020-2021 : 12
Source: Department of Public Safety Canada
A scary place
A Quebecer, client of Me Normandeau, currently imprisoned in a minimum security facility in the state of Pennsylvania, agreed to tell us about his situation on condition of anonymity.
He was sentenced for fraud to a two-year term in November 2021.
From January 2022, he simultaneously applied for a transfer.
Six months later, the Americans accepted his request, but he is still waiting for news from Canada.
He fears having to serve his entire sentence in the United States, far from his family.
“I am in an establishment 800 kilometers from my home. The property is surrounded by fences and barbed wire. I would really like to see my children, but they are young and it is a scary place. I’m afraid they’ll have consequences. I haven’t seen them for ten months,” he wrote. The Press.
If I made the request, it is not to be privileged. I ask no more than the other inmates, Canadian or not. I only ask, as a Canadian citizen, the opportunity to serve my sentence near my children and to be able to be rehabilitated according to Canadian norms and standards.
A Quebecer imprisoned in a minimum security institution in the State of Pennsylvania
An easy file
Once US Correctional Services accepts the request, the Correctional Service of Canada’s International Transfers Unit must build a case.
This includes US court documents, a calculation of sentence length and parole eligibility, a probation report and a community assessment of the inmate. When the file is ready, the Minister of Public Safety of Canada approves the request.
According to Me Normandeau, all these steps should be completed within nine to twelve months, even less in a case like that of our inmate sentenced to two years for a white collar crime.
“You can’t have a better transfer file in the country than this one,” says Me Normandeau.
“His case would take five minutes. There was not even an extradition request. He offered to travel to the United States himself and pay a fine. He even had conditions to return to Canada pending further procedures. He did not expect to receive a two-year sentence,” adds the lawyer.
Me Normandeau affirms that most of the time, it is the calculation of the duration of the sentence that remains to be served and the signature of the Minister which lengthen the delays.
He believes that someone other than the minister should also be able to sign the transfer so that delays are reduced.
“In big cases, like, for example, a cocaine importer who received ten years and more, we should let the minister decide. But in the case of less serious crimes and less severe sentences, we should leave that to a person in charge of Correctional Service Canada. I have never seen a transfer request made by a prisoner sentenced to two or three years be refused,” explains Mr.e Jacques Normandeau.
The Press asked the Ministry of Public Security and Minister Mendicino on November 21 why the number of transfers over the past two years has been so low.
On November 23, a Ministry spokeswoman gave us a statement at the end of the day that never came, despite numerous reminders.
As for our detainee, he learned on November 30 that he would not be part of the list of transfers scheduled for December 2. In the best of scenarios, it will have to wait for the next window, scheduled for spring.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.