The Rule of Law & Combatting Systemic Discrimination: Corrections

May 17th, 2021 from 1:00 to 3:00pm ET

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Speaker Biographies

Monette Maillet, Executive Director and General Counsel - Office of the Correctional Investigator

Ms Monette Maillet is the Executive Director and General Counsel at the Office of the Correctional Investigator.

Ms Maillet received her B.A. in Criminology from the University of New Brunswick in 1987, and her Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University in 1990. She was called to the Alberta Bar in 1991. In 2001 Ms Maillet joined the Canadian Human Rights Commission as a litigator and thereafter held a variety of positions such as Director of Legal Services, Director General (DG) of Policy, Research and International, DG of the Complaints Services branch, and Deputy Executive Director and Senior General Counsel. She has appeared numerous times as a witness before committees of Parliament and of the Senate on various human rights issues. Prior to joining the CHRC, Ms Maillet practiced law in Alberta for over 10 years as a civil litigator.

Senator Kim Pate

Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost, the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent the last 40 years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized — particularly imprisoned youth, men and women.

Senator Pate graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 with honours in the Clinical Law Programme. She was the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) from January 1992 until her appointment to the Senate in November 2016. She has developed and taught Prison Law, Human Rights and Social Justice and Defending Battered Women on Trial courses at the Faculties of Law at the University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University and the University of Saskatchewan. She also occupied the Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2014 and 2015.

Kim Pate is widely credited as the driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. During the Inquiry, she supported women as they aired their experiences and was a critical resource and witness in the Inquiry itself.

Senator Pate is a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, the Canadian Bar Association’s Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award, and six honourary doctorates (Law Society of Upper Canada, University of Ottawa, Carleton University, St. Thomas University, Wilfred Laurier University, and Nipissing University).

Dr. Ivan Zinger, Office of the Correctional Investigator

Dr. Ivan Zinger received his degree in Common Law from the University of Ottawa in 1992, and completed his articles of clerkship at the Federal Court of Canada. In 1999, he obtained his Ph.D. at Carleton University (Ottawa) in Psychology of Criminal Conduct. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Law Department at Carleton University.

Dr. Zinger joined the Public Service of Canada in 1996.  He held a variety of senior managerial, policy and research positions in public safety-related federal departments and agencies. In 2004, he joined his current employer, the Office of the Correctional Investigator (Federal Prison Ombudsman), and in 2009 he became the Executive Director and General Counsel. As of January 1, 2017, Dr. Zinger was appointed as Correctional Investigator of Canada pursuant to section 161 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Over the years, Dr. Zinger has developed expertise in domestic and international human rights law in prison settings. His academic publications are significant and include articles on a variety of subjects, including prison oversight, ethics, dangerous offenders, correctional treatment, the diagnosis of psychopathy, conditional release, penal segregation and the impact of tough on crime measures on corrections. 

Dr. Zinger is the recipient of the 2014 APEX Partnership Award for “making communities safer by building strong and effective partnerships across the country and abroad, contributing to the development of more effective correctional practices in Canada.”  This prestigious award is one of six presented annually by the Association of Professional Executives in the Public Service of Canada (APEX).

Tom Cardoso, Crime and Justice Reporter, Globe and Mail

Tom Cardoso is an investigative reporter with The Globe and Mail. Tom has been with The Globe for seven years, and has previously reported extensively on gun violence and white collar crime. In October, 2020 he published Bias Behind Bars, a ground-breaking, years-in-the-making investigation on racial bias in Canada’s prisons. Using data obtained through an Access to Information request, Tom conducted a statistical analysis of  50,000 Correctional Service Canada inmates’ risk assessment scores, and has since interviewed close to 100 inmates, academics, lawyers, politicians and correctional experts. The Globe and Mail’s investigation into prison risk scores is ongoing.

Patricia Whyte, Indigenous Peer Support Worker, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies

Patricia Whyte is a Peer Support Worker through the Elizabeth Fry Society, which means she is a mentor and peer support for women in their GATE program. 

Patricia spent 4 years in Federal Prison and took her release at Holly House. She is passionate about acknowledging the truth about life in prison as well as social justice in general, and through the Elizabeth Fry Society she's been able to turn that passion into a career.