- Target:
- Vic Toews; Don Head; Howard Sapers; Irwin Cotler; Jasbir Sandhu; Scott Reid
- Region:
- Canada
In 1983, during a failed robbery attempt, Peter Collins shot and killed Constable David Utman. He was 22 at the time of his conviction, and received a sentence of Life-25. He is currently incarcerated in Bath Penitentiary serving his 29th year. He is a British citizen, and in 1990 he was made deportable, which means he will never be released in Canada.
Although Peter knows he can never make up for taking a life, and feels deep remorse every day for the pain and suffering his actions caused Constable Utman's family and his own family, he has worked tirelessly while imprisoned to become the man he wants to be.
He has been involved in the Alternatives to Violence Program as both a participant and facilitator. He was a peer health educator for 10 years, and won a Human Rights award in 2008 from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch for his work educating other prisoners about HIV and Hep C. He has written a parole manual to help other prisoners prepare for their hearings, and works with guys one-on-one before their hearings. He has upgraded his education, tutored other prisoners, and taught himself to paint and play the guitar. He is a prolific artist and writer. His love of animals led him to become a vegan, and he has saved and nursed back to health hundreds of injured birds and other animals.
Additionally, he has donated 1000s of works of arts to social justice charities and causes to use as fundraising tools.
There is nothing else Peter can do in terms of release planning. He completed his correctional plan in 1998 and he has done everything else that his Case Management Team has asked him to do to prepare for parole.
He has a comprehensive release plan in England that includes housing, employment, reintegration support, counseling and a circle of support and accountability. He has contacted British authorities to let them know he will be living in England, and has made arrangements to be supervised by the local police. He has a hearing coming up in May, and we are hoping that the National Parole Board will approve his application for parole for deportation.
We are writing in regards to a deportable prisoner, Peter Collins. He is a British citizen serving a life sentence in Bath Institution just outside of Kingston.
In 1990 an immigration hearing was held and Mr. Collins was ordered deported. At that time Mr. Collins was advised that he was still eligible for Work Releases(WR), Unescorted Temporary Passes(UTA) and Day Parole(DP), all part of a gradual release process to prepare prisoners for a structured, safe and supported release to the community. Mr. Collins was also advised by his Correctional Service of Canada(CSC) Case Management Team(CMT) that, upon receiving full parole, he would be removed from Canada and returned to the UK.
In 1992, Canada introduced the Corrections and Conditional Release Act(CCRA) and at this time Mr. Collins was again advised, by his CSC CMT to follow his correctional treatment plan and participate in upgrading, employment and to continue working toward his rehabilitation and eventual gradual release. In 2002, amendments were made to the CCRA which completely excluded deportable foreign national prisoners from being permitted to participate in the very conditional release opportunities (WR, UTA, and DP) which help to reduce risk and ensure more successful community reintegration of prisoners.
Mr. Collins was under the impression that he was still eligible to participate in conditional releases under the Canadian Interpretation Act (AI). It was not until the day before his 2008 parole hearing that he was advised, because of legislation changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act(IRPA) and the CCRA, that he was excluded from any community-based conditional release programs and therefore could not participate in the gradual, structured release program that CSC and National Parole Board(NPB) were demanding of him prior to his release.
We are very concerned that Canada’s legislation excludes Mr. Collins from participating in the very conditional release opportunities which CSC and the NPB are demanding of him. The NPB and CSC have a mandate to provide correctional and conditional release opportunities to those prisoners who can be reintegrated into Canadian society. Surely Canadian legislators did not intend for deportation orders to be used to perpetually hold foreign national prisoners while imposing discriminatory and exclusionary policy interpretations. This situation creates a ‘catch 22’ that prevents any realistic opportunity for a release on par with Canadian citizens.
Mr. Collins completed his correctional plan in 1998 and there are no other programs for him to participate in. He has been rated as a low risk for general or violent recidivism. His human rights work has earned him an award for his work in HIV/AIDS harm reduction. For these reasons, we urge his release and return to the UK at the earliest opportunity.
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The Parole for Peter Collins petition to Vic Toews; Don Head; Howard Sapers; Irwin Cotler; Jasbir Sandhu; Scott Reid was written by Joan Ruzsa and is in the category Justice at GoPetition.