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Michelle Fowler used to have constant worries about her son’s mental health and addictions.
When he was incarcerated at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary last year, she thought it might be the tough love he needed.
She doesn’t think that anymore.
“Connection and love are important in life and the inmates inside of HMP do not have those,” Fowler told CBC News on Wednesday.
She was shocked earlier this month to learn of something else her son didn’t have — a toothbrush.
Fowler said her son, Zachary Mulrooney, told her during a call in the first week of October that the institution had run out of toothbrushes. He told her the guards said they were supposed to be getting a new shipment the following week. One week turned into two, and then began approaching three.
On Oct. 20, Fowler took to social media to voice her concerns.
“The inmates at HMP don’t have toothbrushes,” she wrote. “A basic human right. They’ve been without toothbrushes for several weeks.”
The province’s citizens’ representative told CBC News he began fielding complaints the following day, which continued into this week.
Justice Minister Helen Conway Ottenheimer said her department first heard of the problem on Oct. 21. She said corrections officials took immediate action and secured 1,200 toothbrushes from the West Coast Correctional Centre in Stephenville.
But those toothbrushes were not set to arrive until Wednesday — seven days after the department was first notified.
Fowler said that’s not good enough. She acknowledges her son is facing a serious charge of manslaughter in the overdose death of a 14-year-old boy, but insists he still deserves to be treated with basic dignity.
“Everybody deserves the right to basic necessities of life,” she said. “I care. Other people care. Society lacks compassion for those in prison but I don’t, and I’m not afraid to speak anymore. I’m sick of being silent and I’m going to keep speaking for inmates at HMP.”
Her Majesty’s Penitentiary dates back to the 1850s. The facility is in the process of being replaced, with a new jail set to open in the fall of 2029. (Ryan Cooke/CBC)
Fowler says a shortage of toothbrushes is just the tip of the iceberg at HMP, a facility that dates back to the reign of Queen Victoria in the 1800s.
The problems plaguing the facility have been publicized for decades.
The penitentiary is overcrowded with inmates sleeping on bunks in the gymnasium for extended periods of time. The heating and cooling system is often down. The buildings are infested with rodents. Staffing shortages lead to constant cancellations of recreation time and family visitation.
The conditions often lead to inmates receiving reduced sentences with additional credit for time served.
The justice minister expects many of the problems today will be solved when a new facility opens in 2029.
“There’s no doubt that there are challenges that exist with respect to the aging facility of HMP,” Conway Ottenheimer said.
“These are issues that are very much on our mind, in terms of making sure that not only is there the safety and security of inmates and correctional staff … but also that we have productive members coming out of the facility. Obviously rehabilitation and reintegration into our society is important.”
For the time being, Fowler feels like there’s nothing she can do except advocate for her son.
“It makes me feel terrible. I feel like I can’t do anything because I’m not the person caring for him right now,” she said. “He’s in prison. I mean that’s where we feel they will be getting the bare necessities, but that’s not being provided for the inmates right now.”
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