Outside Publications
Within the scope of the penal press, there exists several publications, which were published and produced outside the walls of prisons and penitentiaries. These ‘outside’ publications were created by activists, former inmates and prison abolitionist groups with articles and editorials coming from a combination of those living outside and those still interred inside correctional institutions. These external titles were free of censorship from wardens, administration, and the Canadian Correctional Services, allowing authors to dig deeper into controversial issues and be openly critical of the system they currently or previously lived in.
The Criminology Library’s collection of the penal press includes four titles from external publications.
Transition
Transition (1972-[197-]) was published by the Transition Society in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, "written and edited by inmates and ex-inmates of federal penitentiaries with ensured anonymity, if desired, and with complete editorial freedom." Transition, which was free to any federal inmate, focused on complex and serious issues, including mental illness, labour, violence and discrimination, pertaining to the incarcerated. By the fifth issue, the editors had developed their own style and embraced criticism, "[our] editorial line has been termed bitchy, blasphemous, hard, defensive, aggressive, humanitarian, criminal, absurd, obscene, etcetra. ... Curses or compliments, brickbats or bouquets, we are here to stay.”
Each issue concluded with their "Crime Against Humanity Award," which took aim at the criminal justice system, judges, police and correctional staff. Their first ever such award was given to a Saskatchewan Judge for sentencing four teenagers to hard time for a $150 robbery, "in the punishing for one crime the perspicacious judge has directly caused countless more." A follow-up in the next issue revealed that one of the teenagers had suffered a mental breakdown in the penitentiary due "to an inability to adjust to the prison environment. Is this also a tolerable crime, Judge?"
Unlike publications published on the inside, Transition was able to be critical of the justice and prison system, ask uncensored questions and at times, be deliberately provocative. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their reporting on a rash of suicides in the Saskatchewan penitentiary.
Within a seven-month period, between 18 November 1972 and 16 June 1973, six men at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary committed suicide: George Redhot, Edward Bazie, Leslie White, Larry Hart, Al Napio and Garry Gafka. For Transition's November/December 1974 issue, they posted a photograph of one of the six men, deceased, the noose still around his neck. The words, "Merry Christmas" are imposed over his pillow. Regarding the cover, the editors provided an explanation on the front cover, "Prisons give men and women a lot of time to think. Maybe that's why some men and women don't survive prison. Prison seems to survive them though. Prison seems to survive everyone. They haven't changed in fifty years. They are still killing people. Think about Birth during this Season. But think about the deaths too, and think about keeping alive those who are already born."
In the next issue, Transition drew attention to the criticisms levelled against the CSC by the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan, who conducted an investigation into the suicides and reported twelve "comments and criticisms." The result is a scathing report of mental health care inside Saskatchewan Penitentiary, including that five of the six men were either held in the 'strip cells' in the hospital section, intended for inmates in danger of suicide, or segregation. Similar to issues at Millhaven, at Saskatchewan, the institution was slow to institute changes which were directly allowing men to die, "such negligence appears to us to be inexcusable."
However, Transition did not just focus on the facts, they also drew upon the human side as well, by reprinting a poem written by Edward Bazie, entitled, "I hate it all," which was written six days prior to his death and posthumously published first by the Native Press - an Indigenous focused penal press title - on 21 February 1973. As well, Transition also published an article from an anonymous inmate from Saskatchewan Penitentiary on the Con-Aid system, which was formed in 1973, as "a kind of roving Crisis Center comprised of inmates on 24-hour call to help meet the needs and cope with the problems of their fellow inmates." The writer believes in the need for the program, but is critical for why it is necessary, "They [Con-aid] must be allowed to try to save lives well states the policies of the penitentiary service in Canada, particularly when the penitentiary service that has an obligation to save lives isn't fulfilling that obligation."
Bulldozer
Bulldozer (1980-[198-]), so named as “the only vehicle for prison reform” was published by the Prison Solidarity Collective in Toronto, which described itself as “anti-state,” “anti-authoritarian,” and “definitely prison abolitionist.” The publication featured articles by the collective (some of whom had been formerly incarcerated) as well as former and current inmates.
One of Bulldozer’s central focuses was on the issue of Indigenous activism, examining not only issues within Canadian corrections, but also delving into the experiences of incarcerated Indigenous individuals within the American and South American systems. Bulldozer wrote frequently about AIM (the American Indian Movement) and the case of Leonard Peltier, an American Indigenous man, who was extradited from Canada after he was charged with killing two FBI on the Pine Ridge Reserve in South Dakota.
In Bulldozer's inaugural issue they tackled the topic of the S.H.U (Special Handling Unit), which in 1980, existed only at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Penitentiary and at Millhaven Penitentiary. They first provided the history and reasoning for these units, "[they] were designed to lessen police and prison guard opposition to the abolition of the death penalty, which came under legislative debate in Canada in 1976. Prisoners who have murdered police or prison guards, or who have engaged in hostage takings, prison escapes involving violence, or other violent acts, are confined to these central, maximum-security units where they can be more easily monitored and controlled." In this issue, Bulldozer published three letters from inmates currently residing in Special Handling Units that provided an inside look into this new system, which functioned (and continues to function) as a de-facto death row in Canada.
In Angel's letter, partially reproduced below, he reports that he has already spent three years in solitary and so far nine months in the S.H.U. His letter provides information on the phase system. "Phase I - 23 hour lock-up, one hour exercise, no T.V., no hot water." Angel, so far, had spent nine months in Phase I.
Another letter from an anonymous writer from the S.H.U at Millhaven questioned, "Do you want to know how bad the food is? How the recreational facilities are? The treatment by old regime goose-steppers? The constant head games? Medical treatment, visits and correspondence? The humiliation of being stripped and searched? ... Where I am right now is the end of the line and as far down as a person can go. There's nothing else that the system can do to any of us right now."
Break Through
Break Through (1970-[197-]), was “an ex-offender publication serving offenders, ex-offenders and citizens at large, dedicated to penal reform and the education of the public.” This title was published in Hamilton, Ontario under the auspices of the John Howard Society, a non-profit organization for prisoner support and prison reform, with reporting and correspondence from former and current inmates.
Unlike, Bulldozer and Transition, Break Through was less focused on giving voice to inmates on controversial topics. Rather its editorials and content aligned more closely with the John Howard Society, and focused on issues of prison reform, and providing justice and incarceration focused news of interest to inmates, ex-inmates and the general population. Issues had regular updates from penitentiaries, as well as providing entertainment and events that inmates could take part in, such as prison art exhibitions.
There is a particular focus on rehabilitation, for both the incarcerated and paroled, including programs run by the Society inside prisons, such as Circle Group at Collins Bay.
Prison Journal
Prison Journal began in 1980 as the literary publication of the University of Victoria program at the prisons of Matsqui, Agassiz and Metchosih, and was printed at Matsqui. By No. 4 (December 1984), Prison Journal had undergone a transformation from a mimeographed black and white journal, to a professionally printed and bound issue, which is now printed by the Prison Education program at Simon Fraser University drawing from literacy programs at Kent, Matsqui, Mountain and William Head Institutions. The journal itself, beginning in 1984 was printed outside the carceral system, and in addition to fiction and poetry also included interviews with inmates. The December 1984 issue published an interview with Gerry Hannah, a member of the "Vancouver Five," who bombed a B.C Hydro Electric substation and the Litton Industries missile guidance factory in Toronto in 1982. Subsequent issues included three or four interviews, which often run to over twenty pages, and provided direct, and seemingly uncensored, insight into the lived experience of criminality and incarceration. For example, Eddie Rouse's interview discussed his role in prison riots, involuntary transfers, and the consequences of being branded a prisoners-rights activist by the Canadian Correctional System. In issue No. 8, in 1990, the topics of the interviews are on censorship itself, and how individuals at each institution experience it.
In closing, the outside publications offer a very different lens from other penal press titles. Operating beyond the constraints of censorship, they possess the ability to more directly confront the authority of the carceral state and furnish current or former inmates with an uncensored platform for expression. These publications advocate diverse causes and give voice to varied political viewpoints, allowing for insight into the issues that impact the penal press as a collective entity.
Scroll the items below to read the interviews with Gerry Hannah and Eddie Rouse
