08/11/2026
As deaths inside Ontarioās provincial correctional facilities reach record highs, local organizations marked Prisonersā Justice Day on Aug. 10. Confronting what they called a dangerous shift in corrections, one they say increasingly trades community-based health supports for overcrowded cells and tough-on-crime rhetoric.
Quoting the research, CEO of the John Howard Society, Sara-Jane Berghammer said that since 2000, more than half of prison deaths nationwide have resulted from unnatural causes ā including preventable overdoses, su***des and untreated medical conditions ā with the average age of death being just 44.5 years old.
James Sitko, who lives with epilepsy and postictal psychosis ā a temporary psychiatric condition following grand mal seizures ā shared his personal experience with the justice system.