To the editor:
Regarding “Conditions bad at local prisons (Thunder Bay Source, Nov. 6), I commend Michael Lundy and Shawn Bradshaw for exposing the inhumane, medieval and barbaric conditions at our local prisons.
Three inmates are sleeping in a space that’s smaller than a car due to overcrowding, with their head next to a toilet.
Sixty per cent of the population at Thunder Bay District jail has a mental illness. Ninety per cent of inmates have an addiction issue.
Right across the street is the Lakehead Psychiatric building which has hundreds of empty beds. This facility used to provide care for these citizens. Now they are incarcerated.
This is an abuse of the human rights of citizens who suffer from mental illness and/or addiction issues.
In the last three to four years, I have written letters about this tragic issue to the Ministry of Health, to my MPP, the Local Health Integration Network and the CEO of St. Joseph’s Care Group. All of my concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
I deeply regret that Shane Judge was not elected as mayor on Oct. 27. He intended to reopen the almost empty LPH facility as a residence for citizens who are unable to cope with mental illness or addiction issues.
Mr. Judge envisioned a cooperative consisting of provincially funded public housing and church volunteers. This would be a home, providing support and ongoing treatment about the issues which resulted in their incarceration in the first place.
In government, a true statesman will take a stand against human rights abuses because it is the right thing to do. On the other hand, a politician will not take action unless his career is at stake.
If this city truly cares about the plight of the mentally ill and addicted inmates at our local prisons, citizens must be willing to conduct a massive letter-writing campaign to those in position of power:
Dr. Eric Hoskins,
Minister of Health,
10th Floor, Hepburn Block,
80 Grosvenor Street,
Toronto, Ont.
M7A 2C4
The Board of Directors
Northwest LHIN,
Suite 201
975 Alloy Drive,
Thunder Bay, Ont.
P7B 528
The Board of Directors,
St. Joseph’s Care Group
P.O. Box 3251,
35 N. Algoma St.
P7B 5G7
MPP Michael Gravelle,
179 S. Algoma St.,
Thunder Bay, Ont.
P7B 3C1
Remember, sometime in the future one of our loved ones may suffer from mental illness and self medicate with drugs or alcohol. We wouldn’t want him or her to sleep in a crowded jail cell with their head beside a toilet, would we?
Valerie Morsette,
Thunder Bay
