Paul Wozney: “The call for a collaborative working relationship by the government has been heard. Teachers have established a new corps of leaders who are prepared to forge a new, dynamic partnership. All that remains to be seen is whether the Liberals’ call for a fresh start is authentic or whether their talking points continue to hide a disdain for the rights for teachers and public education.”
Alec Stratford: “The stories of both prisoners and their advocates paint a picture of a system that overuses solitary confinement, has untrained and unscreened guards, provides poor health care, has unsanitary conditions and is an unsafe environment for both inmates and guards.”
New contributor Yazan Khader attended Monday’s Burnside Jail info meeting. Here’s his report. “Despite being pregnant she lost weight in the first few months at Burnside,” a formerly incarcerated mother reported. “She blamed this on the food offered at Burnside, which “wasn’t nutritious” and “not fully cooked. She was often given old leftover food to accommodate her dietary needs, she said.
“I have been reading about the prisoners’ strike at Burnside. I understand that the conditions are not humane and that prisoners at Burnside are asking for necessary improvements in health care, exercise, visits, food, quality of air and library access. As a Palestinian and former resident of Gaza, I get the feeling that I am reading about the people of Palestine in general and Gaza in particular.”
Judy Haiven on the Burnside Jail prisoners strike, and why it matters.
News release: We encourage all individuals and organizations who profess to stand with workers and the marginalized against exploitation and oppression to publicly voice their unequivocal support for the statement and demands of the prisoners, and to provide any and all material assistance possible.
Message of support to the people inside the Burnside jail and everywhere else prisoners fight for more humane conditions, from the Termite Collective, a group of Canadian volunteers, former inmates, and currently incarcerated inmates. “We the inmates in Canadian prisons offer you our support, our solidarity, and our prayers; we hope that your demands will be met and that your conditions will improve. No human beings should be kept in cages and treated worse than animals; in fact, if animals were treated like prisoners, PETA would go off!”
Prisoners in the U.S. have called a strike from August 21st-September 9th. The prisoners from Burnside have joined the protest. Here is their statement.
Poet and author Guyleigh Johnson on anxiety, depression, and being Black. ” I thought I was so strong, I could never break, until I reached my breaking point, and then I broke.”