Federal inmates allege pandemic ill treatment in class-action lawsuit

The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

The British Columbia Supreme Court says a lawsuit by prison inmates alleging ill treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic can move forward as a class action against the federal government.

Inmates claim they were “subject to inhumane rights restrictions” during the pandemic, including being confined to cells for 20 hours or more each day without meaningful contact with other people.

Plaintiff Dean Roberts, a multiple murderer incarcerated at B.C.’s Mission Institution, says in an affidavit the pandemic brought “chaos” as pandemic measures sent prisoners into despair, including one who sewed his lips shut.

The ruling says the Attorney General of Canada opposed certifying the lawsuit as a class action for several reasons, arguing the Correctional Service of Canada’s response to the pandemic was medically necessary.

It says arguments over the “unprecedented and unexpected nature of the pandemic” are issues to be decided by a trial, rejecting the federal government’s claim that inmates should pursue individual lawsuits instead of banding together as a class.

Justice Michael Tammen’s ruling says inmates “frequently face inordinate hurdles” in the courts, being without the financial means to file individual lawsuits, and class actions are often their only realistic means to legally challenge conditions of confinement.

Lawyer Patrick Dudding says he welcomes the court’s decision and he and his associates are now tasked with getting the word out to current and former inmates to join the class, which he says could potentially involve thousands of people.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2020.

This report by Darryl Greer of The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025.