While personally impacted by crime, a former Red Deer business owner is urging the government to release some non-violent inmates from jail early to spare them from the COVID-19 outbreak.
Lorna Watkinson-Zimmer knows a lot of old and sick prisoners are serving time. For her, the situation boils down to one word: Humanity.
“These are human beings, and I have some compassion for them,” said Watkinson-Zimmer, who shut her downtown shoe store last month, following her retirement.
“I’m not trying to preach or anything, but it’s Christian being compassionate…”
Over the years, she has been vocal about her frustration with crime and social problems in downtown Red Deer. Her business was broken into and she’s seen plenty of evidence of drugs and crime in the alleyways.
But Watkinson-Zimmer has also been inside Bowden Institution and has witnessed how prisoners live, two or three persons to a cell.
The idea that there’s any room to isolate is a false assumption, she said.
“I’m worried. I’m scared for them. I’ve seen those cells.”
Watkinson-Zimmer is one of three local volunteers who’ve been running a book club at Bowden Institution with inmates for the past five years.
These clubs, started by an Anglican minister and running with book donations in prisons across the country, help generate philosophical discussions about slavery, women’s rights, and overcoming oppression and hardship.
“Some of those (book topics) have touched a nerve,” said Watkinson-Zimmer, who believes that literature can prick the conscience, as well as promote empathy, by allowing life to be viewed through another person’s lens.
While inmates are incarcerated because they have tread on other people’s rights, she has seen stirrings of insight and compassion in them.
She believes other citizens would be as surprised as she was to discover “these guys have a sense of humour. They have depth.”
Book club members have expressed concern about her driving home in a storm, said Watkinson-Zimmer. She’s heard them admit they deserve to be in prison for their crimes, but intend to lead better lives upon their release.
She stressed she’s not advocating murderers or other dangerous offenders be let out early.
But she believes that some prisoners who are deemed safe for society should be released if they are already nearing the end of their prison terms, to spare them from a viral outbreak in jail.
Watkinson-Zimmer recently wrote to federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to weighed in on the side of human rights for inmates in this controversial matter.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer also recently wrote Blair, asking to protect all citizens by not letting prisoners out early to potentially commit more property crimes.
“Our residents are already dealing with many hardships as a result of the COVID-19 threat. (They) should not have to deal with increasing safety risks with the early release of convicted criminals into our community,” wrote Veer.
Watkinson-Zimmer believes there’s no way convicts will be released without supports. She said most would be placed at home with their families.
A letter from Blair’s office outlines measures that are helping shield corrections staff and inmates from COVID-19, including the cessation of prison visits and the addition of protective equipment.
Regarding the early release of prisoners, the letter states that Corrective Services Canada is working with the parole board in “reviewing cases of inmates whose risk can be safely managed in the community.”
The Parole Board of Canada “will consider the offender’s health or health risk posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, if relevant, as part of the risk assessment, along with all other information on file.”
Anyone who wants more information, or to donate to the Bowden Institution book club can email: comfortsthesolerd@gmail.com.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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