“Adam’s fall” Matthieu Aikins’ award-winning feature on suicides from the Macdonald Bridge is a heartbreaking read even now, a decade after its publication. A year after Aikins’ story was printed, the bridge commission finally decided to install safety barriers along the old bridge to prevent future deaths. Seals of approval One of the most-read stories […]
Prisons
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A strong defence
One of the newest members of the Canadian Senate says a criminal case in Nova Scotia perfectly demonstrates what’s wrong with the justice system—even though the process has been fair. Senator Kim Pate is talking about the release of Christopher Calvin Garnier from jail for a second time. The 29-year-old is charged in the second-degree […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Black Power Hour offers inmate education over the airwaves
[Image-1] There might be a new poet laureate in town, but El Jones isn’t slowing down. The educator, activist and HRM’s previous premier poet is already busy on Monday nights co-hosting CKDU’s Youth Now program, and now she’s spinning off of that with the Black Power Hour. The new radio show offers a free […]
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13 things you need to know Friday
1 Dalhousie’s report into the sexually violent Facebook page created by fourth-year dentistry students was released today. If somehow you missed the scandal, refresh yourself with our coverage on the Facebook posts, subsequent suspensions and Dal’s general public relations nightmare. All of the men involved in the group can now graduate, according to the report. […]
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Burnside’s overcrowded jail remains an embarrassment
[Image-1] How bad are things inside the Central Nova Correctional Facility? Understaffed, overcrowded hellhole might be the most accurate term. The jointly-run federal and provincial prison has already been in the news for attacks on staff and inmates, now recent reports by CBC highlight one of the reasons Burnside is so barbaric. “We almost always […]
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An unending cycle of violence inside the Burnside jail
[Image-1] One of the core responsibilities of government is to ensure the safety and security of all citizens. The citizens in our correctional facilities, staff and residents, are no exception. Over the past 18 months, a string of serious incidents and injuries at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, known as “Burnside,” have led to […]
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“You’re going to get shit-bombed. It’s going to happen”
[Image-1] First, fill up a juice box with urine and fecal matter. Then place it next to the small crack at the bottom of a cell’s door. Stomp on it as hard as you can. The offending slosh will spray out through the crack, covering the cell’s occupant (and everything else) in piss and shit. […]
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Five years of solitude
[Image-1] Convicts don’t get much sympathy. They broke the law, and that’s enough for some people to write them off completely. Drew Butler admits he wasn’t always the best kid growing up, but he never used to be this angry. It’s now been three months since Butler’s been released from prison, just in time to […]
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Seven Sparks’ program heals with sweat
Complete blackness envelops me. The chanting and heavy breathing of everyone else rings loudly, like thoughts in my own head. I retreat under my towel from a blast of cedar smoke and scorchingly hot steam. This is hopefully the closest sensation to burning alive that I’ll ever feel. Finally, I murmur the sacred words and […]