Posted: Apr 09, 2021 4:00 AM CT | Last Updated: April 9
Cory Cardinal poses with a piece of art he did while incarcerated at the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre shortly after his release.(Morgan Modjeski/CBC)
Cory Cardinal has been fighting for inmate rights in Saskatchewan for years. During the pandemic, when the fight has intensified, he s been doing the work from inside the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre.
This week, he got out. My mind and my heart are with my people in there, he said shortly after leaving the facility.
He held a clear plastic bag filled with notes and documents from his time on the inside. There were letters from inmates he s helped express concerns to the provincial government, newspaper clippings and online stories highlighting the work he s done, and communications between him and support groups like the John Howard Society, CLASSIC Law and Beyond Prison Walls Canada.
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)
Maier said some women at Pine Grove have also started a hunger strike in solidarity with Cardinal.
She said with only one prison for women, some of these inmates have to travel long distances to get home and some don t have anyone to help them. There is no way for them to get home and Cardinal doesn t want to see another incident like [Squirrel s death] happen, she said. Some girls will get out on a Saturday or Sunday and they ll ask to get out on Friday because there is nothing open on a Saturday or Sunday to get a bank account or try and get social assistance or anything like that, she said.
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A group of distraught inmates looked at me, their faces full of confusion. What do we do now?
One of the nursing staff just announced to the room that someone on our unit at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre had COVID-19. This revelation further added to the tension, stress and fear on an already overcrowded unit.
I was admitted to the Saskatoon Correctional Centre mid-August. I first went through the overcrowded quarantine unit, where I slept for 14 days in a cell with another depressed inmate on a makeshift bed on the floor. There are six dorms large rooms filled with bunk beds about five feet apart. Thirty of us share three toilets and two sinks. The responsibility of cleaning fell on us, but the cleaning products were given out at the discretion of the guards.