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COVID-19 underscores the many failures of imprisonment

February 15, 2021 By Martha Paynter 4 Comments

Today, February 15, is a relatively new statutory holiday, called Family Day in half of the provinces and Heritage Day in Nova Scotia, although of course here too those of us who can do so are home with our families.  For the most part, the people in prison in Canada have now gone 11 months […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured

Bad medicine

Health care providers who participate in the ill treatment of prisoners are abdicating their professional responsibilities. 

September 3, 2020 By Martha Paynter 4 Comments

Martha Paynter is a Registered Nurse, a PhD Candidate in the Dalhousie University School of Nursing, and the Chair of Women’s Wellness Within. It is outrageous enough that Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back. In recovery he was handcuffed to his hospital bed, adding to the violence inflicted on him. In the […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured

We need to stop incarcerating pregnant people

October 5, 2019 By Martha Paynter Leave a Comment

How many infant deaths, stillbirths and untreated miscarriages will incarcerated people have to experience before we recognize prison is an unacceptable place for pregnant people and end the practice entirely? Yesterday, the BBC reported a baby was born and died at Bronzefield, Europe’s largest prison for women, located in Ashford, England. Exactly a month ago […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Bangkok Rules, Diana Sanchez, incarcerated women, Julie Bilotta, pregnant in prison, reproductive justice for incarcerated women, women in prison

Sexual assault in prison: vulnerable women prisoners have few protections and face reprisal for reporting attacks

May 24, 2019 By Martha Paynter 1 Comment

On May 22, three women incarcerated at the Nova Institution for Women federal prison filed civil suits against the Attorney General of Canada, alleging they were each sexually assaulted by correctional officer Brian Wilson over the course of the past five years. The allegations included in the lawsuits are harrowing: when the first of the […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Avalon Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, Brian Wilson, Correctional Service Canada, incarcerated women, Nova Institution for Women, Public Safety Canada, Robyn Doolittle, sexual assault in prison, Waterville Youth Facility, women in prison, Women's Wellness Within, Wood Street

Nova Scotia needs a JAIL hotline

January 15, 2019 By Martha Paynter Leave a Comment

Martha Paynter is a nurse, nursing PhD student, and director of Women’s Wellness Within. For one month, prisoners at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) have had access to a phone hotline a few hours a day to report concerns and receive support from volunteers. This is the jail where Julie Bilotta was forced to […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Burnside jail, Jail Accountability and Information Line (JAIL), Josh Evans, Julie Bilotta, Minister of Justice Mark Furey, Office of the Correctional Investigator, Office of the Ombudsperson, Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC)

Our lunch with Angela

October 18, 2018 By Martha Paynter, El Jones and Emma Halpern 3 Comments

by Martha Paynter, El Jones, and Emma Halpern We sat down with Angela Davis for one hour over lunch when she was in town this week to receive an honourary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University and deliver the inaugural lecture in the Viola Desmond series. She asked us about prison abolition, sexual violence, racism, […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Angela Davis, El Jones, Emma Halpern, Martha Paynter

Nurse: We should support prisoners’ demands for better health care

"There have been claims that health care is better at Burnside than outside. This is simply not true."

August 24, 2018 By Martha Paynter 4 Comments

Martha Paynter is a nurse, nursing PhD student, and director of Women’s Wellness Within. On August 21, the prisoners at the Burnside provincial jail launched a peaceful protest, in solidarity with a large prisoner strike in the United States, to call for basic improvements in health care, rehabilitation, exercise, visits, clothing, food, air quality and […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Burnside jail, health care in Burnside jail, Martha Paynter, prisoners protest, women in prison, Women's Wellness Within

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Phyllis Rising — Rebecca Falvey (left) and Meg Hubley. Photo submitted

Episode #19 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

Meg Hubley and Rebecca Falvey met as theatre kids at Neptune and have been friends ever since. As Phyllis Rising — that’s right, Mary Tyler Moore hive — they’re making films, plays, and are in production on The Crevice, a three-part sitcom streaming live from the Bus Stop in March. They stop by to talk with Tara about its development, their shared love of classic SNL and 90s sitcoms, and the power of close friendship. Plus: A new song from a new band.

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it.

Please subscribe to The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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Recent posts

  • Sacrificing wild Atlantic salmon for gold March 4, 2021
  • Housing co-op plans affordable 57-unit North End Halifax development with federal, provincial cash March 4, 2021
  • Nova Scotia finally reaches a financial settlement with Glen Assoun, compensating him for the 17 years he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit March 4, 2021
  • Halifax council committee seeks staff report on new recycling program for markers March 4, 2021
  • Every Nova Scotian who wants to get vaccinated will receive the first dose by the end of June, says Rankin March 4, 2021

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