'Not much has changed': Sudbury, Ont. advocates decry lack of support services in northern Ontario jails

Sara-Jane Berghammer, CEO of the John Howard Society of Sudbury, Ont., said going to jail shouldn't be a death sentence.

"It's an opportunity to be rehabilitated," she said.

She added one of the most frustrating parts of organizing its annual Prisoner Justice Day Commemoration is repeating the same calls for improvement to life for inmates across northern Ontario.

"Many of them will be released into the community and we want them to do better and be better," she said.

"Not much has changed."

August 10th marks Prisoners' Justice Day worldwide, which the John Howard Society says is a way of remembering inmates who died of unnatural or violent causes across northern Ontario.

According to the society, prison deaths and self-harm are still major concerns in the correctional system.

"We're starting to see people with mental health issues that are being held in custody, when really they should be hospitalised," Berghammer said.

An 'unnerving' rise in deaths across Ontario facilities

In May, the province's chief coroner, Dr. Dirk Huyer, published a review of fatalities in correctional facilities dating back to 2015 as numbers spiked.

It read that 192 people died in custody at Ontario facilities from 2014 to 2021.

The John Howard Society and The Elizabeth Fry Society were among the groups who found the results "unnerving" as they gathered on the front lawn of the Sudbury Jail to mark the day.

"We have lost many people along the way, both inside the bars and outside of the bar," said Cory Roslyn, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society in Sudbury.

She added that many facilities, including the Sudbury Jail, are also seeing a significant portion of unnatural deaths related to overdose and self-harm.

"If you're looking at a definition of an unnatural death, both of those would fit into that, along with any sort of violence behind the bars, whether that be perpetrated by people who are incarcerated or by staff at the institution."

Both groups have toured the Sudbury Jail, and said they keep coming back to the facility each year in the hope that inmates inside have access to better quality of life.

Less space to add services

Since last year, the Sudbury Jail has received multi-million dollar funding to renovate its aging facilities which were first established in 1928.

Despite promised expansion to parking, an exercise yard and hallways, both groups add there is still a lack of space for programming.

"They're overcrowded, everybody is sort of two steps behind the pace that they need to be. There's very little space to offer services or move people around to meet their needs," Roslyn said.

Berghammer added the latest messaging revolves around equipping staff with mental health training and giving correctional officers other ways of managing inmates.

"We just want to see transparency," she said.

"That will really affect the lives of the people that are in custody."