Prison commissioner sidesteps report’s assertions on Snowshoe’s death – The Globe and Mail
Mar. 31 2015
Ten months after an Alberta judge released a scathing five-page report on the death of Edward Snowshoe, Canada’s prison commissioner has issued a formal response that concedes few mistakes and accuses the aboriginal inmate of “continued aggressive behaviour” – an assertion that contradicts testimony from his own front-line staff.
In a letter addressed to Alberta’s Chief Medical Examiner and obtained by The Globe and Mail, Don Head, commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), acknowledges that Mr. Snowshoe’s death was “tragic” and “unfortunate,” but largely sidesteps troubling assertions contained in the Alberta report, which arose from a public death inquiry held last year.
The letter is Mr. Head’s first full reaction to Mr. Snowshoe’s death and the subsequent Globe and Mail investigation that prompted opposition parties to question the government in the House of Commons about the use of solitary confinement in Canadian prisons.
