Thank you to everyone who participated in the Prisoners’ Justice Day Ottawa community event yesterday, and to those who couldn’t join us but who stand in solidarity with prisoners across Canada in demanding respect for the human rights of people in the correctional system.

A big thanks to our excellent speakers and contributors, to our fellow Ottawa community groups who participated, and to the CSCS Ottawa volunteers for pulling it all together.

Check out a recap of the evening on the Prisoners' Justice Day Ottawa website, including photos, text of several of the speeches, and a poem.

Read press coverage of the event at The Media Co-op.

Friday August 10 is Prisoners' Justice Day, a day of solidarity to honour and remember all prisoners who have died unnatural deaths while incarcerated, and to cast light on the on-going human rights issues present in our prisons.

Please join us at 5pm at Jack Purcell Community Center, where we will be gathering to mark the day with plenty of information and activities, such as books to prisoners (BYO soft-cover book!), button making, and letter writing. Topics to be covered by speakers at the event include harm reduction in prison, Bill C-10, and lived experiences of the corrections system.

Visit the Prisoner Justice Day Ottawa website for more information.

RSVP on Facebook.

July 28 is World Hepatitis Day, dedicated to raising awareness for this virus that infects 1 in 12 people worldwide. Hepatitis C is a a blood-borne virus that attacks the liver causing inflammation and scarring. It can lead to long-term complications such as liver damage, liver failure, and liver cancer.

The primary risk factor for hepatitis C transmission is injection drug use, through the sharing of infected needles. In Canada, 3 out of 4 new infections are related to injection drug use. In Ottawa, 60% of injection drug users have contracted hepatitis C.

Last Friday, July 20, 2012, we joined together for Drug User Memorial Day at Cathcart Park in the Byward Market. Events included a speaker's circle, a smudge ceremony, beautiful drumming and singing from Ottawa's Aboriginal Elders and a luncheon at St. Bridgid's. The event was organized by the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre & the Drug User's Advocacy League (DUAL) with support from a collection of community organizers, the Youth Services Bureau (YSB) and the AIDS Committee of Ottawa (ACO).

Dr. Mark Tyndall, head of infectious diseases at the Ottawa Hospital, discusses the need for a supervised injection facility in Ottawa. He compares the situation in Ottawa today to that in Vancouver 10 years ago, before Insite opened.

On Friday July 20, 2012 our friends at DUAL (Drug User Advocacy League) are organizing a Drug User Memorial event in Ottawa's Cathcart Park at 10am to remember friends and loved ones who have touched our lives. Please join us.

This documentary from National Geographic examines Insite, Canada's first supervised consumption site, which provides a safe and clean environment for people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to use drugs and connect with health care & social services.

National Geographic's Taboo: Shooting heroin legally - Part 1

National Geographic's Taboo: Shooting heroin legally - Part 2

Please note that this documentary includes graphic footage of intravenous drug injection.

What might a supervised consumption site look like in Ottawa? Take a look at Insite in Vancouver, which has saved hundreds of lives and millions in health care dollars since it opened in 2003.

Learn more about Insite, North America's first supervised consumption facility, on their website.