One hundred twenty-nine photos and name tags were strung around a fence surrounding the Saskatchewan Legislature for Prisoners’ Justice Day. The event is meant to commemorate inmates who have died in custody since 2001. “We’re just here today to remember all the lives that were lost inside the institutions,”said Sherri Gordon, an advocate for prisoners. “All the green ribbons are for deaths that occurred inside provincial jails, and the red ones are federal jails.” This year’s memorial also includes the photo of a North Battleford woman and two federal correctional officers who died last week in a highway crash near the Saskatchewan-Alberta border. Gordon said concerns have been raised about the safety of some inmate transport vehicles. Advocates say some prisoner transport vehicles do not have seatbelts for inmates housed in metal cages. “I’ve heard horror stories about [how] when you go over a pothole, [prisoners will] go forward because they’re handcuffed and shackled,” Gordon said. “They have their handcuffs on their feet and their hands are usually tied up, shackled to their waist.” Gordon has a personal stake in her advocacy, as her husband Bronson is currently serving a life sentence. Bronson participated in Monday’s event via telephone, and says more needs to be done to connect Indigenous and First Nations communities with people inside correctional institutions. “You can’t say it’s not happening because it is and it’s just slow moving. But more stuff like that needs to happen,” he said. Deaths of inmates in custody typically prompt a coroner’s inquest into the circumstances. Advocates say hundreds of recommendations have been made over the years, but the continued deaths in custody show more work is needed.
