The Annual Proulx Roundtable 2025 | Made in Canadian Prisons: An Urgent Discussion about Prison Labour in Canada
Prisons are many things. Among these, they are places of work for the tens of thousands of human beings imprisoned there. Like others, these people report for work in a variety of roles: kitchens, maintenance work, food processing, clerical jobs, and manufacturing. Unlike others, they do so without being recognized as employees and without the basic legal protections usually afforded to workers. Among other impacts, this can mean working in problematic conditions for meagre pay. For instance, in the Office of the Correctional Investigator estimated that, at the most common level of pay, federally-imprisoned workers earn a take-home pay of 46 cents an hour. These realities are likewise bound up with the complexity of choice inside prisons, the safety and dignity of people we put in these conditions, and individuals鈥� ability to meet their daily needs, support their families, and finance their transition upon release.听
In conversation with some of the leading figures in prison labour study and activism, this roundtable will explore the seemingly untenable state of prison labour in Canada, current efforts to address it, and the various legal and social paths forward.听
Our Speakers听
The Canadian Prisoners鈥� Labour ConFederation is a union formed to support and improve conditions of employment for Canada鈥檚 prisoner population.听
Jordan House is a professor in Labour Studies at Brock University and co-author of Solidarity Beyond Bars.听
Asaf Rashid is a criminal defence and prison lawyer, community organizer, and a co-author of Solidarity Beyond Bars.听
Ivan Zinger is the Correctional Investigator of Canada, responsible for independent oversight of the federal penitentiary system, and an adjunct professor with the Law Department at Carleton University.听
Deborah Guterman is a labour lawyer, graduate of 黑料不打烊 Law, and Associate at Cavalluzzo LLP, where she specializes in the representation of large provincial and federal sector trade unions.听
Michel Proulx Memorial Roundtable Fund听
The Roundtable is named after the Honourable Michel Proulx (1939-2007), who devoted his life to the improvement of the criminal justice system and to the advancement of human rights in Canada. Called to the Quebec Bar in 1963, he quickly became known as one of the finest criminal lawyers nationwide. In 1989, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal of Quebec. In 2006, he was awarded the Prix de la Justice du Qu茅bec in light of his devotion to the improvement of justice in Quebec. Michel Proulx taught both Criminal Procedure and Evidence in Criminal Matters for over twenty years as an adjunct professor at 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Faculty of Law, in addition to supporting its international human rights programs, and providing counsel and encouragement to students, teachers, and deans. The Faculty of Law hosts the Michel Proulx Roundtable Conferences in Criminal Law to honour his memory. The 黑料不打烊 community is grateful to the Proulx family for making this event possible.听
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