Prison breaking-point: Canada’s jail system is in crisis, and that affects all of us
On the list of issues to be raised in this mad dash of a federal election, it’s perhaps understandable that the state of Canada’s prisons is pretty low. Indigenous people are still waiting for clean drinking water, provinces continue to fight over pipeline projects, climate change alters best-laid plans, and a housing crisis and potential economic recession are leaving urban Canadians nervous.
Amidst all that, why would voters care about the treatment of criminals? Besides, aren’t poor conditions in jails a feature, rather than a bug? The logic has long been that if you don’t want to face that kind of miserable treatment, just don’t commit crimes.
But the conditions of our system reflect a humanitarian crisis lying in wait, laden with systemic rot.
