Take Action: Outbreak at the Toronto East Detention Centre
Scroll down to take action.
There has been yet another COVID-19 outbreak at the Toronto East Detention Centre (TEDC). The Ministry of the Solicitor General reported 17 new positive cases at the TEDC with 77 people held in medical isolation across Toronto Region Institutions as of September 23, 2021. Since September 2020, the number of inmates placed in medical isolation has more than doubled in Ontario-run prisons. Reports from inside indicate that these numbers are much higher than what these institutions have documented.
The increase in medical isolations in Ontario’s prisons suggest that there has either been rampant outbreaks inside or a dramatic increase in incarceration rates. Even though the Ontario Human Rights Commission has called on Ontario to reduce incarceration rates to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.
Due to continuing unsanitary conditions, close quarters, frequent physical contact, and the underlying chronic health conditions of many detained people - jails and prisons pose challenges that threaten the health and wellbeing of Ontario's Communities.
Premier Ford and Sylvia Jones are responsible for creating the conditions for more outbreaks to happen inside . We are calling on them to take immediate action to reduce the number of people in prison and improve conditions inside.
Ask your candidate where they stand on prisoners’ rights?
Scroll down to send an email to candidates in your riding.
The terrible conditions inside prisons across the country continue to be exacerbated by the pandemic and the federal government has taken no concrete action to keep prisoners safe. While many provinces and territories depopulated prisons by expanding diversion measures, people in federally-operated prisons have been largely left behind. Instead, frequent lockdowns and segregation have been the government’s only response to control the virus inside. This course of action has led to predictable and devastating outbreaks, taking a heavy toll on the well-being of our incarcerated kin.
Prisoners put their bodies on the line to protest these inhumane conditions by organizing hunger and labour strikes. Their loved ones and supporters wrote thousands of letters to their Members of Parliament calling on the government to act quickly to improve the conditions inside and still no action was taken.
Failure to address harms of prison system this election
With the federal election underway and all political parties platforms released, it is heartbreaking that not a single party has said anything substantive about their commitments to address the growing prison population and the poor conditions that individuals are subjected to inside.
Throughout this past year, calls to defund, dismantle and disarm prisons and police resonated with people across the country, who called instead for prison and police funds to be diverted to community initiatives that better address the root cause of social issues, violence and trauma. While some politicians echoed these calls last summer, we have seen no mention of reducing and eliminating police budgets or prisons during this election.
Prisoners continue to be left out of political decision-making
Polling stations inside prisons and jails were only open on September 8, 2021, which means that prisoners did not even have a chance to watch the election debates before casting their ballot. In addition to calling for our political candidates to listen to the concerns of prisoners, we demand that prisoners be included in political education and debates in order to participate in informed decision-making.
Please use this email tool to ask the candidates what are they are planning to do to support people inside prisons and jails? How will you ensure that we are choosing real safety?