Hon. Wanda Thomas Bernard: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Bill S-205, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, also known as Tona’s law.

I wish to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. I believe that land acknowledgements need to be more than performative, and they are especially vital when discussing matters of justice and law, as it grounds our work in the reality of both historical and ongoing systemic inequities.

Today, I am really pleased to be here to add my voice to this debate. I will do so firmly and briefly. I want to thank Senator Pate for her persistence in bringing this bill forward again and especially for the speech today, which highlighted so many interventions that have taken place just over the last 10 years alone that speak to the need for this bill. I also extend my deep gratitude to all colleagues who have contributed to this debate at its various stages and the various iterations of the bill.

With over 45 years of social work experience — and I know I don’t look that old — working with incarcerated people and supporting the families and communities of incarcerated people, I want to tell you that lived experience brings me to fully support this bill, full stop. I support this bill.

Tona’s law is more than a legislative amendment; it is a response to the lived reality of those who have been most marginalized. Named in memory of the great Tona Mills — an Indigenous woman, a Sixties Scoop Survivor, a tireless advocate and a person who still found joy every day — this bill seeks to protect the most vulnerable people in our communities against one of the most heinous human rights violations in Canada: solitary confinement. Colleagues, I want this to sink in. I want you to think for a moment. We are talking about some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. They are people who Senator Pate and Senator McCallum have spoken about today in their speeches — people whose lives have been steered, directed and guided by the impact of systemic racism and colonialism. We are talking largely about Indigenous Peoples and Black people who deal with the daily struggles of racism, addiction, mental illness and intergenerational trauma that never goes away.

Tona’s law is a step in the right direction for the type of change that I would like to see for my community. We need community-based options for African-Canadian communities because, quite frankly, isolation does not solve issues. In fact, as we have heard, it creates more of them. During the study conducted by the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights on the human rights of federally sentenced persons, we repeatedly heard about the importance of community-based alternatives for prisoners. I will remind you, colleagues, Recommendation 46 of the report states:

That the Correctional Service of Canada work with independent experts and civil society organizations involved in the —

— and note this —

— rehabilitation and community integration of federally-sentenced Black persons and otherwise racialized persons to develop and fund correctional programming and integration opportunities as are available pursuant to sections 29, 81 and 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

As you have already heard today, our committee tabled 71 recommendations urging change in our criminal justice system. Through this bill — Tona’s Law — we have here an opportunity to make progress on some of these recommendations, including but not limited to Recommendation 33, which calls for eliminating the use of solitary confinement.

Honourable colleagues, the message I wish to convey here today is clear. Healing happens in connection and in community. Healing does not occur in isolation and certainly cannot occur in solitary confinement.

For the last visit I had with Tona last summer — following the visit with Senator Pate — I took her some homemade treats that she absolutely loved. Tona told me that she wanted to see this bill pass so that she could die in peace.

Tona had been forced to navigate her deepest traumas and mounting health crises in a vacuum of silence, denied the community support we know is essential for connection and healing. Tona was determined to see this through so that no one else would suffer as she had ever again.

So, while Tona did not live to see this day, she is still fighting, through you, Senator Pate, and for all of us who speak to this bill. She is still fighting for this change.

Honourable senators, I ask you to pass this bill in her memory. Let’s make Tona’s Law her legacy.

Thank you. Asante.