NDP slams ministry response to jail deaths as 'unacceptable'

In the wake of a parade of drug deaths at the Barton Street jail, the provincial NDP is criticizing the ministry of corrections and the coroner's office for not doing anything about it.

More than a dozen inmates have died of suspected drug overdoses inside the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre since 2010, and that is "totally unacceptable," says Kevin Yarde, the NDP's community safety and correctional services critic.

"Nothing is happening at the Barton jail, and people are dying," he told CBC News. "They have to stop stalling and do something now."

"These people are human beings, not animals."

According to statistics from the coroner's office, 10 inmates died of overdoses at the jail between 2012 and 2017.

Those are the most up to date figures available, but since then, at least three more inmates have died of suspected overdoses — two in 2018, and one more already this year.

They need to stop stalling.- Kevin Yarde, NDP community safety and correctional services critic

These deaths come after a massive coroner's inquest that was called last year into eight overdose deaths between 2012 and 2016. Inquests are called after a death to make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future. A jury can recommend procedures for governing bodies to adhere to, though they're under no obligation to do so.

That inquest was delayed for three years. When it finally did happen, a jury made 62 recommendations on how to reform the facility.

Those included limiting the number of inmates allowed in a cell, possible random searches of staff, and having every guard carry life-saving naloxone, which helps reverse overdoses.

Recommendations not implemented

It's been seven months since those recommendations were made, but none of them have been implemented.

Once the inquest wrapped, responding parties, including the ministry that oversees the jail, had six months to respond to the jury's recommendations.

Those answers were postponed another six months because the chief coroner failed to file a "verdict explanation" in a timely way. As a result, the ministry says it only received the recommendations in November, and says it is "in the process of reviewing and developing responses to them."

"We're continuing to see deaths, and the ministry hasn't done anything," Yarde said. "They need to stop stalling.

"One death from overdose should be enough."

When asked if there is increased concern because of the continued deaths at the jail, and if anything is being done to curb them, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services spokesperson Andrew Morrison said in an email that "the government takes the protection of those in our custody very seriously."

"The ministry works continuously to make sure policies and procedures are in line with those priorities," he wrote.

Cheryl Mahyr, spokesperson for the Office for the Chief Coroner, did not respond to Yarde's criticisms when asked by CBC News.

She said in an email that "should Mr. Yarde wish to contact us directly regarding any concerns he may have with our office, we would be happy to respond."

Families kept in the dark

Yarde also questioned how forthcoming the coroner's office is with information to grieving families after a loved one dies in custody.

Sharla Archer, whose brother Jason died inside the jail in August of 2017, lamented earlier this week that her family still has very little information about what happened to him.

"They literally didn't tell us anything other than 'he's dead,'" Archer said.

Mahyr said that families are contacted by the coroner's office for updates on the "progress and findings of our investigations as well as the possibility of inquests."

"At the outset of every investigation an immediate family member is identified as the primary contact as a matter of routine and communication with that family member can occur at frequent or infrequent intervals depending on the situation," she said.

"Every death investigation is as unique as the decedent."

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