At least 50 inmates went on hunger strike across Ontario last year, provincial documents show. However, the number will be higher, experts said.
Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that prisoners have gone on hunger strike in every month of 2023. More than half of these strikes were in the central region. A maximum of 15 hunger strikes were observed at the Central East Correctional Center in Kawartha Lakes. The largest strikes followed, with 11 strikes at Carleton Detention Center in Ottawa and Maplehurst Correctional Center in Milton.
Experts say the data provides the most detailed picture yet of organized crime in Ontario’s provincial prisons. Although they are very incomplete.
Dr. teaches criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University. Jessica Evans. “I would say the actual number is much higher,” he told CTV News Toronto. There is no adequate oversight or coordination between prisons to inform about such activities.
The Ministry of Solicitor General was contacted in this regard but they did not provide any information about the hunger strike in the additional years. A ministry spokesman said that inmates who refused to eat food continued to be served through the canteen and prison staff monitored the health of those participating in the hunger strike.
Associate Professor of Labor Studies at Brock University. Jordan House is not surprised by the data of at least 50 hunger strikes in prisons by 2023. He said the prisoners are organizing protests to assert their rights. But this is probably the most accurate data I’ve seen so far.
