‘The jail is just a death trap’: Stories of overcrowding, understaffing and violence in Thunder Bay

The facility was often locked down for days at a time because of staffing shortages, Mr. Townsend noted, with inmates confined to cells measuring about six feet by eight, sometimes with three or four men to a cell. Others were held in what’s known as “emergency housing,” including tiny booths with no toilets and no contact with other inmates.