Federal inmates who are religious but not Christian are dissatisfied with the level of spiritual services provided to them, a recent departmental audit has found.
To remedy the situation, Correctional Services Canada is preparing a manual to inform prison staff about the multitude of religious affiliations claimed by offenders and the ways in which each must be accommodated.
But the department pleads that it is not always easy to juggle the competing interests of prisoners' rights and budgetary constraints. In addition, spiritual leaders from some groups are not readily available. The Canadian Charter of Rights guarantees prisoners access to the accoutrements of their religion -- be it paganism, Zoroastrianism or Satanism. That guarantee plays out in all kinds of ways, from a separate outdoor space at Kingston Penitentiary that has been set aside for Wiccan ceremonies to the provision of meals to meet special religious requirements, says the audit completed in June and obtained by The Globe and Mail under access to information legislation. "We are required by the Human Rights Commission to provide what is required, cost notwithstanding," said Christina Guest, a project officer in the department's chaplaincy office who has specific responsibility for minority religious policy.
But only 10 per cent of all prisoners -- about 1,400 people -- say they are religious but neither Christian nor adherents of aboriginal spirituality, a belief system to which the department has catered relatively well, according to the audit.
That means any institution might find itself housing a sole member of a certain faith, a Rastafarian, for instance, but must still accommodate that person's religious needs as long as they are within the bounds of law and will not disrupt security. A Rastafarian may not have marijuana even though it is part of his spiritual practices and Wiccans must replace swords used in their ceremonies with sticks.
But the audit suggests the department should be doing a better job in providing access to legal religious materials and spiritual leaders.
"Non-Christian faith groups are not satisfied with the level of service provided," it says, urging the creation of national guidelines to meet the spiritual needs of offenders.
That will be partly accomplished by through the new manual, Ms. Guest said.
But "there are cost implications," she said. When "kosher food or halal food or specific things that are religiously required or justified, are needed in such small amounts, that always costs more." So much more that the department had to ask the Treasury Board this year for an additional $1.06-million to make special meals.
About $400,000 of that went to inmates who are on therapeutic diets. The rest was for the roughly 650 inmates who need distinct meals for religious reasons.