'Like animals': Former Sask. Penitentiary inmate critical of conditions during COVID-19
A former inmate of Saskatchewan Penitentiary is considering legal action against Correctional Service Canada (CSC) due to what she claims is disregard for her health and welfare while incarcerated.
“We need respect. We need that for our mental health. We’re treated like animals and we’re not animals, we’re human beings too,” Jasmine Vallee said.
She says she’s speaking out to let the public know what’s been going on inside.
Vallee tested positive for COVID-19 while serving a sentence in the medium security unit for domestic violence and robbery. She was in custody from February 2020 to June 11, 2021.
Vallee is transgender and says she was put in a separate unit in medium security for her safety.
She says the changes in the day-to-day operations of the jail were noticeable once the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Everyone on her range was not let outside for six months, she claims.
“I struggle with depression and suicidal ideation and living in my own head, I really needed to be outside,” Vallee said.
She alleges nurses would drop off medications on her range but they didn’t provide any health care to inmates. She also says she was denied medical and psychiatric care.
Vallee says she tested positive for COVID-19 while in jail and got sick.
“Health care only checked on me once. I was having severe asthma attacks, respiratory issues, and I needed health care. I pushed my panic button and nobody showed up,” Vallee said.
She says the guards stopped taking inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 off the range and left them in their cells.
Inmates were put under a 23.5 hour a day lockdown and only allowed out of their cells for about 15 minutes a day, she said.
Vallee says she thinks they did this in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 but the confinement hurt her mental health.
She says addiction counselling, education courses, psychiatric consultations disappeared completely.
Vallee filed a written complaint while in jail but says she never got a response.
In response to an interview request, CSC spokesperson Kelly Dae Dash provided a written response to CTV News regarding Vallee’s allegations.
“During the timeframe you specify, Saskatchewan Penitentiary was experiencing outbreaks of COVID-19, which required an adaptive approach. We put in place a comprehensive testing strategy and worked to test, trace and medically isolate to prevent spread. This also required CSC to modify routines to ensure we could maintain layers of protection, including physical distancing,” Dash said.
Dash said programming at Sask Pen was also temporarily suspended during the outbreaks but once they were declared over, “inmate movements, including time outdoors, programming and employment resumed.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.