Aboriginal Inmates Go on Hunger Strike in Regina, Winning Access to Cultural Practices | VICE | Canada

6.3.15

Aboriginal Inmates Go on Hunger Strike in Regina, Winning Access to Cultural Practices | VICE | Canada: After local media attention and meetings with the inmates, the correctional centre staff and the inmates came to a compromise Tuesday afternoon. In an email to VICE, a representative for the Ministry of Justice said a smudging unit had been planned in advance of the hunger strike and would be operational within a week. The offenders will also get a microwave and an extra $10 per week of their own money to spend in the canteen. The other request of the inmates, access to the outdoors, was not granted.

The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) executive director Kim Pate says that although solved quickly, it shouldn't have been an issue in the first place. CAEFS has worked with women in similar situations usually in federal facilities. Pate explained according to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 15 people should have access to their religious practices and cultural practices whether or not they are in a correctional facility.