UNFORGETTABLE SAGAS, SCOOPS AND SCANDALS
 from Toronto Life’slong-form archives

Dear Reader,

The Toronto South Detention Centre is a remand facility for men who have yet to stand trial—in other words, they’re legally innocent. When the Liberal government created the massive Etobicoke complex nearly a decade ago—establishing the second-largest prison in Canada—policy makers claimed it would usher in a more humane approach to incarceration. But, as Raizel Robin reported in this damning investigation from 2017, trouble surfaced before it even opened its doors.

This week, Toronto South is in the headlines again amid a national spike in prison deaths. In late March, Anthony Chatzimanolakis, a 30-year-old inmate who was awaiting a bail review, died while in custody. His family has since sounded the alarm over conditions inside the facility, alleging that the jail failed to provide Chatzimanolakis with proper medical care. As his loved ones demand answers, they join a growing number of families grieving in the dark.

The $1-billion hellhole

When the Toronto South Detention Centre opened in 2014, it was supposed to herald a progressive era of incarceration. Instead, the superjail has become a house of horrors for the men inside, many of whom have yet to be convicted of anything

BY RAIZEL ROBIN | FEBRUARY 15, 2017

In the legal community, the Toronto South Detention Centre is referred to as the “plea factory” because men awaiting trial have been known to plead guilty just to get out. Those incarcerated there call it “Guantanamo South Detention Centre” for the ungodly things that take place inside. In its first two years of operation, four inmates died and 14 tried to commit suicide. There were 249 inmate-on-inmate assaults and 118 assaults on staff. Current and former inmates, officers, judges, lawyers and community activists agree that Toronto South is a complete disaster. And, as Raizel Robin wrote in this shocking feature, its problems are only getting worse.

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