Advocates join together to call for change inside Sask. prisons

Saskatchewan advocates and non-profits are joining together to call for the prevention of in-custody deaths as part of a national solidarity movement.

Saskatchewan advocates and non-profits are joining together to call for the prevention of in-custody deaths as part of a national solidarity movement.

Prisoners' Justice Day began on Aug. 10, 1974, in Millhaven, Ont. when inmate Edward Nalon took his own life after a series of frustrations and mistreatment while in prison.

The day has since gone on in support of prisoners’ rights and to remember all the people who have died while incarcerated.

"We need to remember that people that are in provincial institutions are there for having broken the law, but none of their sentences should be more than two years less a day," John Howard Society of Saskatchewan CEO Shawn Fraser said.

"So everyone in provincial custody, in theory, will be back in society someday."

According to the John Howard Society, there have been six deaths in provincial or federal institutions so far in 2024, and 48 dating back to 1997. Fraser and other advocates say future deaths could be prevented as long as both governments implement the recommendations that come from coroner's inquests, which is required by law after an in-custody death.

"We believe that there should be consequences, but no one is in there for a death sentence," he said.