This special issue of the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, titled
"Dialogue on Canada's Federal Penitentiary System and the Need for
Change", features dozens of contributions written by criminalized men
and women currently incarcerated in Correctional Service Canada (CSC)
institutions. The writings document the counterproductive changes to
federal imprisonment made by the previous federal government. These
incarcerated writers seek to contribute to the reflections of Justice
Canada as it conducts a review of the penal system and to the Standing
Senate Committee on Human Rights as it engages in a study about the
treatment of prisoners in CSC penitentiaries. Individual prisoners and
Inmate Committees from CSC institutions in the Atlantic, Quebec,
Ontario, Prairie and Pacific regions who participated in this dialogue
collectively express hope that the Government of Canada will move away
from the punitive laws, policies, and practices. To this end, the issue
includes several recommendations to be enacted in the short-term to
improve the lives of those who are imprisoned and who work in federal
penitentiaries while also benefitting Canadian society by contributing
to public safety.