January, 2025

The dawn of a new year !

The John Howard Society of Sudbury Board, Staff and Volunteers wish everyone in our community a prosperous 2025.  We are remembering 64 years of our service to our community this year with our 65 th anniversary starting in December 2025.  We could not have been serving our community for 64 years without your continuued support.  We are truly grateful for your support and ongoing encouragement.

Champion of the month

This year we will acknowledge one of our champions every month.  In January we express our thanks to Delta Bingo and Gaming, their staff and our volunteers who raise funds for our services through Delta Bingo and Gaming.  You are our January champions !

In The News

Inmates working in prisons want to be treated like public servants

       From the Ottawa Citizen       Andrew Duffy    January 21, 2025

The inmates who work inside federal prisons want the right to unionize like other public servants.  The Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation (CPLC) and its president, Jeff Ewert, say the federal correctional service has unfairly denied inmates the right to unionize and bargain collectively.  Ewert wants inmates who work inside prison cafeterias, kitchens and laundry rooms treated like other public servants employed by the federal government.

Denying them the right to unionize, he contends, offends their constitutional right to freedom of association.  Ewert has asked the federal labour relations board to find that the exclusion of inmates from labour law — specifically the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act — violates the Charter.  The act governs labour relations between the federal government and its employees.  The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board recently ruled it would hear the constitutional challenge brought by the prisoners.  Board adjudicator Christopher Rootham found that inmates were not federal “employees” as defined by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, but he rejected the government’s contention that the finding barred the board from hearing the inmates’ constitutional challenge.  “In summary,” Rootham concluded, “inmates are not ‘employees’ as that term is defined in the Act. However, the board has the jurisdiction to rule on whether that definition is unconstitutionally under-inclusive for the purposes of this complaint.”

The decision means the board will hear arguments as to whether the exclusion of inmates from federal labour law violates their constitutional rights under the Charter.  Canada’s federal penitentiaries hold about 12,600 inmates. Many of them are employed in prison as cooks, cleaners and clerks, while others work in prison industry programs that produce furniture, clothes and other products. Federal prison industries are operated by CORCAN, a special agency within the Correctional Service of Canada.  In June 2021, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Human Rights published a report on the human rights of federally-sentenced inmates. It said inmates earned a maximum of $6.90 per day, but had 30 per cent of their incomes deducted to pay for room and board.  The Senate committee recommended the correctional service boost the salaries of inmate workers and reduce the cost of their room, board and telephone service.  The recent labour relations board ruling represents an important procedural victory for advocates of prisoners’ labour rights. The constitutional case will now move to a full hearing, and, if successful, it could fundamentally change labour relations in Canadian penitentiaries.

Previous court decisions have said that to be considered a federal government employee, an individual must be formally appointed to the public service. Since inmates are not appointed under terms of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, courts have said they fall outside the law’s reach.  The inmates’ constitutional challenge seeks to upend that interpretation. They argue that inmates’ exclusion from federal labour law is similar to the treatment once experienced by Ontario’s agricultural workers, who were not allowed to unionize.  In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the province could not exclude agricultural workers from its labour laws.

Brock University labour studies professor Jordan House said that while a union for prisoners may seem far-fetched, it is not unknown. In 1977, he said, prisoners working in a meat packing plant at the Guelph Correctional Centre successfully unionized and earned the rights, health and safety protections afforded other workers.  The union remained in place for two decades until the privately-run abattoir was moved from prison grounds.  House said about two-thirds of federal inmates work inside prison as part of their correctional plans. He believes they deserve the right to unionize.  “I come from the perspective that every worker who wants a union should have that opportunity,” he said. “If you look a the kind of work federal prisoners are doing, it’s entirely reasonable that they would want to purse unionization.”

The John Howard Society believes in effective, just and humane responses to crime and its causes.  We are dedicated to creating genuinely safer communities by helping to foster a truly effective criminal justice system. The John Howard Society helps people reintegrate into society, thereby reducing alienation, crime and recidivism.

Our mission is resolute. We want to help to create a truly effective criminal justice system – one that serves us all, that confronts crime and its causes and that fosters safer communities.  In short, we help people turn away from a life of crime. Surely, that’s what we’d all like to see.

Practically speaking, we STOP Crime Now ! ^TM through the multitude of programs and services that we offer to the community.  You can help us to STOP Crime Now ! ^TM through your donation to the John Howard Society of Sudbury.  All funds raised are used to deliver our programs and services in the Sudbury and North Bay communities.   STOP Crime Now ! ^TM is a registered trademark of the John Howard Society of Sudbury.

We are proud to commemorate Prisoners Justice Day every year.  It is a day where we remember the violence within the walls of incarceration and the men and women who have died because of this violence while incarcerated.  In 2025 the commemoration will be on August 10 at 10:00 am on the grounds of the Sudbury Jail.  For more information please go to the Prisoners Justice Day page on our website.

(NEW!) The John Howard Society assists people with criminal records to apply for a record suspension, formerly known as a pardon.  It is a lengthy process and can take up to two years.  If you would like more information contact the John Howard Society as soon as possible.

Some of our funders include the following and we are truly appreciative of their support.  Given that the vast majority of Canadians claim to give to charities but just less than 25% of Canadians claim their charitable donations on their tax return, you may want to make sure you know the benefits!  Your donations are important !  Please remember us.

To easily calculate the tax savings for a donation of any amount, use https://www.canadahelps.org/taxtime/.

For information on how our programs and services can be accessed in French contact the John Howard Society of Sudbury at the references located on our contact page.  Those programs and services that are available in French are noted with an (F) in the title of each service or program.  The John Howard Society is an inclusive agency serving all people in our community.  We have posted the Pride progress Flag on our website as a symbol that everyone is welcome to enter our agency for service.

Vianet is a proud supporter of the John Howard Society and the great work that we do all across Ontario to provide effective, just, and humane responses to crime and its causes. Vianet supports and helps in creating safer communities and to STOP Crime Now!

Follow us on Instagram at johnhowardsudbury or #jhssudbury.

June is National Indigenous History Month.  For more information please go to our Events page.