A spike in inmate deaths has prompted an open letter to Ontario's solicitor general, calling for an independent oversight body.
There were 280 people who died while in the custody of Ontario provincial jails and prisons from 2010 to 2021. Crosses rest against a fence at London's Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre representing some who died.
whose late brother Soleiman was pepper-sprayed, shackled and held down by guards in an Ontario jail before his death "The Ministry of the Solicitor General must address preventable deaths in provincial jails and prisons by taking immediate action to improve oversight, transparency, and accountability," the letter reads.
"Whether you're on remand, or whether you're not, whether you're serving a sentence that has been delivered by the courts, or whether you're still awaiting tria ... a person deserves to be treated with dignity, and to have their human rights upheld and to not go to prison to die." she said. Some experts have also speculated some cases are linked to COVID-19 in some way, between infection and increased isolation. Advocates agree they don't fully know why some of these deaths are happening without more information and that's the crux of the issue.
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