Halifax Examiner · Posted: Mar 31, 2023 | Last Updated: March 31, 2023
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia is calling for a public inquiry after a Mi’kmaw woman died of pneumonia in provincial custody this week.
Sarah Rose Denny, 36, died in hospital on Sunday, March 26. She had been in custody in the East Unit of the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, the provincial jail in Burnside.
Emma Halpern is the executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia.
“We’re not learning from this,” Halpern said. “There needs to be a look into what happened so that we can improve our systems, so that we can ensure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Halpern said Nova Scotia’s Fatal Injuries Act is out of line with that of other provinces, where there’s an automatic inquiry when a death like this happens. There’s a mandatory review when people die in hospital, she said, but not for prisoners in Nova Scotia.