More than 1,200 people have died from suspected or confirmed overdoses in Saskatchewan since the beginning of 2020. A CBC Saskatchewan project shares the faces and names of many of those we lost during those three years, taking the conversation beyond statistics and stereotypes.
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Inmates at some federal prisons and provincial jails on the Prairies plan to participate in a hunger strike on July 1 in memory of the children whose unmarked graves were confirmed at former residential school sites.
Several individuals incarcerated at the federal Edmonton Institution and Saskatchewan Penitentiary and at the Regina, Saskatoon and Pine Grove provincial jails have told advocate Sherri Maier, founder of Beyond Prison Walls Canada, that they plan to participate in the hunger strike on Thursday.
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Ministry officials indicated those who tested positive are now isolated in separate cells. But Cardinal says there s not much faith from those inside that the Ministry will be able to contain the virus as they feel the facility and many of its units are overcrowded. He says the pandemic has put more pressure on an already vulnerable population. During the last outbreak, there were a lot of inmates feeling helpless watching the COVID levels rise, he said.
The new cases have created an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear for those inside, he said.
Cory Charles Cardinal is a self-educated artist, writer and prisoner justice advocate incarcerated inside the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre. He is the founder of Inmates for Human Conditions, a group of inmates advocating for better conditions inside Saskatchewan correctional centres. (Submitted by Abby Stadnyk)
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