On Tuesday, August 20th, Sheila Hiles spoke with her son Gregory for over an hour until around 10pm, when the East Coast Forensic Hospital locks up for the night. Nothing, she says, was out of the ordinary. Greg talked about plans he was making for the future, and discussed a recent meeting with his treatment […]
Corrections officials came to Province House for questioning; here’s how they answered
On Wednesday morning, I attended the Public Accounts committee meeting at Province House. Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Hudson, Chris Collett Executive Director of Correctional Services, and provincial Director of Correctional Services Sean Kelly were answering questions about the Auditor General report from May, 2018. Among other concerns, the report revealed jails were not following the rules […]
Keep Uber out of Halifax
Morning File, Tuesday, October 2, 2018
News 1. Lobbying “The Nova Scotia Gaming Corp. paid thousands of dollars to fly three experts to Halifax to testify in favour of a government bill aimed at relaxing the rules of a program that bans problem gamblers from casinos for life,” reports Jean Laroche for the CBC: A spokesperson for the Crown corporation said Monday […]
Three men say they were sexually abused as teenagers at the Nova Scotia Youth Training Centre
Morning File, Friday, September 7, 2018
News 1. Child sex abuse Three men allege that they were sexually abused as teenagers when they were housed at the Nova Scotia Youth Training Centre in Bible Hill. The Nova Scotia Youth Training Centre was an institution for young people with mental disabilities. I’m withholding the men’s full names until and unless they want to be […]
Five prisoners at the Burnside jail ask the court to order them released from solitary confinement
Five prisoners at the Burnside jail have filed habeas corpus applications with the Supreme Court. The applications arrived at the courthouse yesterday, September 5. Kaz Cox, Matthew Grimm, Maurice Pratt, Steven Skinner, and Leonard Greenough each say they are wrongfully being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. It’s unclear if any of […]
Nova Scotia jails are increasing the use of torture
Morning File, Thursday, September 6, 2018
News 1. “Expert panel” is toothless Reports Jennifer Henderson: After the deaths of three former nursing home residents linked to badly infected bedsores, months of mounting complaints through the Protection of Persons in Care Act, and published news stories from family members alleging nursing home staff are overworked and residents’ care is often neglected, Health […]
“Losing our fucking minds”
Sean Kelly, the head of the province's jails, says the jails are getting better at following the rules about solitary confinement. But we talked to prisoners, and they say nothing has changed.
This week, the auditor general’s office released a review of “close confinement” practices in Nova Scotia jails. The report found that the rules about segregating prisoners are frequently not being followed and that documentation is not being kept. The findings show that prisoners in segregation are not being given showers or getting the required exercise […]
A prisoner on prisons: “Habeas Corpus in a Nutshell”
Dylan Gogan was incarcerated in terrible conditions, unable to access the most basic resources, but taught himself case law from scratch and changed how Nova Scotian prisons operate.
The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons released a special issue on October 19th. From the press release, This special issue, titled “Dialogue on Canada’s Federal Penitentiary System and the Need for Change,” features dozens of contributions written by criminalized women and men currently incarcerated in Correctional Service Canada (CSC) institutions. The writings document the counterproductive changes […]
A dog sitting next to you on the ferry will either make or destroy your day: Morning File, Monday, July 31, 2017
News 1. Cellufuel Cellufuel has stopped operating its Brooklyn biofuel plant, the Halifax Examiner reported Friday. The start-up biofuel company has received at least $4.5 million in public money; the shut-down is temporary and just part how “innovation” works, insists president Chris Hooper. Click here to read “Cellufuel ‘pauses’ operations at its Brooklyn demonstration plant.” […]