Arbour Report

Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston
Also known as
  • Arbour Report
Commissioner
Inquiry periodApril 10, 1995 (1995-04-10) – 1996 (1996)
AuthorizedOrder in Council P.C. 1995-608
Final Report

The Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston was a Canadian inquiry headed by Justice Louise Arbour concerned with prisoners' rights and the treatment of federally-incarcerated women. The Commission's final report was released in 1996, and was dubbed the Arbour Report.[1]

Originally formed to investigate a disturbance and subsequent mistreatment of prisoners at the Prison for Women (P4W) in Kingston, Ontario, the inquiry became more broad, encompassing the administration of sentences and conditions of confinement of federally-incarcerated women in Canada as a whole.[1] The inquiry was ordered in April 1995 after Solicitor General Herb Gray viewed a recording of an all-male emergency response team conducting strip searches of women prisoners.[2]

The 300-page report was submitted to Solicitor General Herb Gray on 31 March 1996.[3] Since the report found that many of the policy issues were systemic and predated 1994, it also made broad structural and policy recommendations.[1] Ultimately, the Arbour Report contributed to numerous changes in how prisoners, especially women, were treated in federal Canadian prisons.[4]

P4W was closed in 2000 after the opening of regional prisons for women across Canada.[5]

  1. ^ a b c Arbour, Louise (1996). "Commission of Inquiry Into Certain Events At The Prison For Women In Kingston". www.justicebehindthewalls.net. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  2. ^ Fennel, Tom (1995-03-06). "Jailhouse shock". Maclean's. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Patterson, Floyd (2017-08-11). "P4W was reformatory failure". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  5. ^ Guenther, Lisa (2018-07-05). "What is lost when we pave over a prison". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2020-10-15.