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It would be nice if the telephone hotline that Justin Piché helped set up never rings, if there is no need for it to ring, but he knows that’s not so. The question to be answered soon is just how busy the line is and how dire the callers’ needs are.

At 1 p.m. on Monday, the Jail Accountability and Information Line (JAIL) will go live, allowing inmates at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre and their families and friends to call with complaints and concerns about anything from human rights abuses to support services for recently or soon-to-be released inmates. Some, Piché believes, will just need to call to vent their frustrations.

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The hotline, at 613-567-JAIL (5245), will operate daily between 1 and 4 p.m. Created by the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project, it’s intended to track abuses and advocate for inmates and their needs.

“The A in JAIL is for accountability; improving conditions on the inside,” says Piché, who adds that poor confinement issues and human rights violations have been common at OCDC. The organization will attempt to work with jail officials to resolve issues, but will going higher up the political ladder when necessary. “It’s not our goal to make a lot of noise,” he says. “We want to improve conditions.”