Ontario

I want to put this in the comments because people who don't read the article carefully will miss it.

During an unrelated news conference in the northwestern Ontario city Tuesday, Ford was asked about recent calls from First Nation leaders to close the old jail, which MPP Mamakwa calls “a death trap.”

“We just want to make sure we get some consultation, and we built a nice jail, very nice jail up here," Ford said. "Matter of fact, it looks like the Four Seasons Hotel. I'm not sold on that. When people commit crimes, they shouldn't be in this fancy-dancey jail.

“But we're going to invest in it and let's see what we do with the old jail. Do we renovate it? Because we need more cells.”

The article mentions these comments came less than a week after an inquest into a death of an inmate there finished. The inquest made recommendations such as :

• develop and publicly release a plan to decommission the jail within five years of the opening of the new Thunder Bay Correctional Centre.

• the 100-year-old jail never be repurposed to incarcerate individuals in the future.

• develop a functional capacity for correctional settings that considers institutions' ability to provide adequate supervision and support services rather than simply focusing on housing inmates.

• review and revise policies related to opioid use disorder and suicide prevention

• for correctional officers to receive ongoing training on substance use disorders and trauma.

• round-the-clock nursing care be implemented at the jail

• ensure inmates know what supports are available

• that inmates spend at least five hours a day outside their cells.

Kevin Mamakwa died in prison while on Suboxone to treat opioid addiction.

Earlier, the jury heard Mamakwa received his four doses of suboxone at a pharmacy May 14, 2020, which would have run out four days later. He was remanded into custody May 28, 2020 and died five days later.

Boban explained that in 2020, if a person missed six consecutive doses of suboxone, they had to be re-assessed by a doctor in person before they could receive additional doses.However, the jury heard Mamakwa had no chance to see a doctor during his time at the jail.

Boban also said it seemed it was unclear to jail staff whether Mamakwa had an active prescription, and they didn't know he was given a 21-day prescription May 14 which would have lasted until June 3, the day after he died.

From another article:

Dr. Leonora Regenstreif, an adjunct assistant clinic professor at the department of family medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, provided testimony Wednesday about opioid withdrawal symptoms.

...

“Withdrawal from suboxone, from what I hear from patients, tends to be worse at three to five days. It can go on for a couple of weeks,” Regenstreif said.

...

“It was very common for people to be in what we call forced withdrawal. So for me, the challenge early on was I was very shocked it didn't meet what we call equivalency — meaning that people in corrections were not getting equivalent care, equal care to people who are outside.”

Kevin Mamakwa's death was ruled a suicide by the inquiry. He died by suicide during opioid withdrawal. He had a prescription for medication to treat this withdrawal, but was not given access to this medicine.

That absolute timbit of a premier had the audacity to roll up to tbay having no idea of what happened in that inquiry and make these cruel comments. I'm not even sure he realizes what a jail is. Jail is where they keep people who haven't been convicted yet, in addition to people on short sentences. It hasn't been determined they commited those crimes yet.

Even one of the guards knows it's fucked up:

“There are days when I'm putting people in cells where I actually feel like a bad human being because I don't care what crime you committed — I wouldn't want to be treated that way,” he said of the 100-year-old building’s conditions.

I did a super quick search and found this auditor general report that stated that 84% of inmates at that jail were on remand in 2018/2019.

What an absolute jackass.