Wellness Within Sounds the Alarm on Deaths in Custody
Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, commonly known as Burnside jail, died in hospital on August 1, 2026 This occurred one day after experiencing a medical emergency at the jail requiring transport to the local emergency department.
Wellness Within has long underscored the profound physical, mental, and social harms caused by incarceration. Harms disproportionately felt by Indigenous and Black communities due to massive overrepresentation in correctional facilities.
The real and far too often fatal harms caused or exacerbated by incarceration are among the reasons why Wellness Within opposes recent calls for “tough on crime” parole reforms. Harsher practices in an already profoundly punitive parole system only seek to perpetuate the damage caused by the prison system and prevent community reintegration efforts. This does not contribute to public safety.
Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who have died while in prison. Wellness Within stands in solidarity with you and fellow organizations and advocates pushing for change.
Wellness Within is a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization that serves women, transgender, and nonbinary people who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or have young children in Nova Scotia, part of the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral territory of the Mi'kmaq people.
Wellness Within supports people through the full spectrum of reproductive health experience; facilitates workshops and education sessions; develops resource materials; and advocates for reproductive justice issues.
Contact: Martha Paynter, Director of Research: martha.paynter@unb.ca or (902)292-7082. Natasha Hines, Chair: natasha_hines@outlook.com or (902)717-2956
