Video Recording of CALL Conference Session on Legal Information for Incarcerated Persons

At the recent annual conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries in late June in Montreal, panelists and advocates from across the country took part in a panel discussion on access to libraries, law, and legal information for incarcerated persons. 

The session is now available on YouTube.

"Prison libraries are fundamental as they provide access to information about the rights of the incarcerated person and the tools necessary to access those rights. Imprisoned Canadians are an underserved segment of the population who lack adequate access to legal information and library services. Most provincial prisons do not have formal libraries. Without a legislated requirement for library access to books and materials, incarcerated persons lack recreational, cultural, educational, and law reading materials. As more legal information is placed online, incarcerated persons are being excluded from simple access to the law. The 'language of law' is not available to this group."

Panelists included:

• Helen Anderson, Director, CLEO Connect
• Alan Kilpatrick, Law Society of Saskatchewan
• Romy Otayek, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
• The Honourable Kim Pate, Senate of Canada
• Karen Sawatzky, Manitoba Law Library
• Ava Sinclair, Buffalo Sage Wellness House
• Kirsten Wurmann, Manitoba Library Association