Start time: 11am, August 10th, 2025
Please join us at the Human Rights Memorial on Elgin street at 11am, August 10th, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario as we mourn the loss of countless prisoners whose lives have been taken from us by the Canadian Carceral System, and as we celebrate the courage of prisoners who chose to fight it.
Prisoners’ Justice Day, which grew to become International Prisoners’ Justice Day in the ’90s, began as a hunger strike on August 10th, 1975 in response to the death of Edward “Eddie” Nalon who bled to death in the segregation unit of Millhaven Maximum Security Prison located in Bath, Ontario in 1974 because the guards had dismantled his panic button.
About one year later on May 21st, 1976 another prisoner died in the segregation unit of Millhaven Prison. Robert “Bobby” Landers was very active and outspoken in the struggle for Prisoners Rights. He had been doing his time at Archambault Maximum Security Prison, near Montreal, Quebec. He was on the Inmate Committee at Archambault, where prisoners were in the process of organizing a prisoner strike to better conditions inside*. Bobby was involuntarily transferred to Millhaven just before the strike in January 1976 and thrown into the Hole. On the night before he died Bobby tried to get medical help, however, the panic buttons in the cells had still not been repaired.
Original Prisoners’ Justice Day Demands
To attain:
- The right to meaningful work with fair wages
- The right to useful education and training
- The right to proper medical attention
- The right to freedom of speech and religion
- The right to free and adequate legal services
- The right to independent review of all prison decision making and conditions
- The right to vote
- The right to form a union
- The right to adequate work and fire safety standards
- The right to open visits and correspondence
- The right to natural justice and due process
You can read the a more detailed history of PJD here
Event information:
- We will be holding space for anyone who wishes to tell their story; or speak about the confinement of their loved ones; or the circumstances surrounding their engagement with the carceral system. There will also be a speakers list for people who wish to prepare a speech. If you’re not on our email list, please see one of the organizers on the day of the event to be added to the speakers list, or just raise your hand if you would like to say something.
- The event will begin at 11am and we will have water bottles and snacks on hand for anyone who needs them. Many people who attend PJD each year have a lot of experience with the intense feelings of mourning that accompany the day, so please do not feel like you can’t reach out to people their for support.
- Members of Mothers Offering Mutual Support, The Criminalization and Punishment Education Project, and the Millhaven Lifers Liason Group will be attending and speaking at the event.
- We do ask for patience and humility on this day as people remember and express their memories of isolation and degredation.
- Discrimination and bigotry will not be tolerated.
- Please keep yourself updated on the event by visiting this page or CPEP’s social media pages. We would be happy to grow or change the event with your support!
Out of town events:
There is also a ride-share that is going to the PJD event in Kingston, Ontario that is leaving Ottawa at 9am.
Sign up sheet is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefA17fmeyWVS_Qjra8c7OV_f6XyQw0EtXZ606d_kL0yNmuPQ/viewform
Contact and Social Media:
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1295573565613076/
Ottawa PJD committee: prisonersjdottawa@gmail.com
CPEP and MOMS social media:
