Commissioner's Speeches

Why Tension is Good for You Or, The Need for Many Voices in Corrections

Remarks by:

Lucie McClung
Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada

CAC Annual Conference
Marriott Hotel, Ottawa, Ontario
November 21-23, 2003


Check against delivery

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to you about something that is dear to me: the link between communities and the Correctional Service of Canada.

Since it's been a while since we last got together, I plan to keep my comments brief and to leave quite a bit of time for questions. I hope that's OK with you.

There is an abundance of policy direction and words of encouragement from many corners of Canadian leadership that support community involvement in matters that affect citizens' lives. Corrections being one of these matters. This is not a revelation to you - you have brought shape to these words and are living them.

Within the Correctional Service of Canada's senior leadership cadre, there is agreement that community involvement in corrections is not only a good thing -- contributing to efforts to make our communities safer -- but also a necessary thing.

But, in 2003, that is no longer enough- our discussion must now turn towards evaluating results.

Let me elaborate on these points.

We know that criminality is not the concern of just a few. Criminality affects many people in the short, medium and long terms. It affects all of us - it is in the communities that crimes are committed, that people are most affected and that victims must deal with the painful consequences - and it also the communities from which offenders come, and to which they return.

The community, then, is where we must focus our efforts. We now know that the more targeted the assistance we provide offenders while in our custody and in our communities, the less likely they are to commit new crimes and therefore, the safer our communities become. We also know that the period of greatest risk for re-offending is immediately after release from prison. We know that offenders need role models, contact with the community, and structure and support in the form of halfway houses, access to medical services, social and employment services, churches and other community faith and support groups.

But, none of this is possible without a community's acceptance of the very idea of offender reintegration and then, the idea of responsibility to make it a success - for the sake of the community.

There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. I believe this.

I also believe that it takes a village, or a community, to oversee the successful reintegration of someone who has spent time in prison. Someone who did serious harm, who must take charge of the process of reparation, his own and that of the community at least to some extent.

But, we know this - someone who cannot do it alone.

The best release plan addresses not only the needs of the offender but also the needs of the individuals whose lives will be affected by the offender's release. This, I suggest to you, is the next building block for community corrections: working together to plan for and actually shape solutions for all individuals affected by the return of the offender.

We are fortunate in Canada in that we have a long history of co-operation with organizations aimed at assisting in offender reintegration. And, as I have said many times, I - as leader of CSC - am fortunate to be able to count on you.

The safety of Canadian communities is due in part to your work, and that of many organizations, over the past three decades.

Notwithstanding this, I believe that the CSC needs to expand the tapping into outside sources of strength and energy, such as victims and victim organizations, business or trade organizations, offenders' families and ordinary citizens.

At the heart of my conviction towards CSC's mandate is my belief that we cannot do this without the involvement of citizens. This means that I believe that we do not have all the answers, that answers are situational and therefore, continue to evolve.

We make great efforts in the Correctional Service of Canada to see how we measure up against other correctional systems, and to learn best practices from as many different countries and organizations as possible. We also make great efforts to base our work on evidence -- not just on conviction -- and to measure and evaluate our results and take corrective action as necessary.

At the same time, I know there is more going on out there. There are more individuals with something to give to corrections and public safety, more voices to be heard.

Thanks to the values that we hold dear in this country and thanks to the personal sacrifice of so many Canadians past and present to ensure our freedom, Canadians have a right to ask questions about practically anything they want. As part of the public service, we have a duty to answer them to the best of our ability.

Some Canadians ask questions by writing us letters, while others call on their Member of Parliament. These are not the ones I'm concerned about because I hear them.

I am concerned about the Canadians who do NOT ask questions, the ones who walk around with an inaccurate impression of corrections, of the staff who work in corrections, and of the offenders we manage. Sometimes this impression is based on movies and television programs that portray offenders as heroes or demons, and correctional staff as brutal and uncaring. And sometimes it is based on the commission of new crimes by individuals rather than on something that is rarely talked about, the reality of what we do.

These impressions have the potential to cause a great number of problems.

Therefore, the organization needs to increase public awareness, and more importantly, to go beyond information and seek participation in the correctional endeavour.

And I can't do this without you.

You, members of Citizens' Advisory Committees, are critical to the Correctional Service of Canada's role in helping to protect the public. You are critical to the future of Canadian communities and to their safety. Why do I say this?

Because you told me so. You told me that you wanted to influence change. You told me that you saw what needed changing and you wanted to be part of it. You told me that you wanted to go well beyond the status of observers to a status of change agents.

Your work as advisors to our policies and practices enriches the platform of information we use to do our work -- be it geared toward safe and humane custody or reintegration efforts -- and to continually strive to improve our effectiveness.

I am not entirely sure that we are taking full advantage of this capacity. I need to hear what you think about this later on this morning.

Your role as educators and liaisons with the community helps us to better inform the public about our activities, to better mobilize citizens to take part in our activities, and to better prepare communities to receive offenders.

You have come a long way these past couple of years. And I know that it has not been easy. That is usually the case with BIG, important matters.

A lot of new CACs have been added as we have worked toward ensuring each institution, parole office and community correctional centre has a Citizens' Advisory Committee. In just four years, the number of CACs jumped by one third, from 60 in 1999 to over 90 in 2003. Today, we have over 500 CAC members.

As the pool of CAC members has expanded, so has the need to ensure members are provided with the information they need to do their jobs well. Your new resource and orientation manuals will go a long way toward ensuring this happens. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to your outgoing Chairperson, Dr. Charles Emmrys, for his dedication and hard work on this. Charles, you were essential to this project and I thank you for your time, your commitment and your vision.

In fact, during Charles' tenure at your helm, you have all had a number of important accomplishments. These include: the establishment of CAC Awareness Week; an increased presence at national headquarters where Charles and other members of the National Executive meet with senior officials to heighten awareness and involvement of CACs; an updated policy on CACs; and a survey and evaluation of CACs which we will be reporting on early in the new year.

Charles, this work has been instrumental in organizing, guiding and facilitating the work of the local CACs, helping to optimize their contribution to safe, secure communities. On behalf of the Correctional Service of Canada, I thank you for your wisdom, your time and your dedication.

I also want to thank the regional committees for their efforts in co-ordinating the activities of the various locals and giving voice to the challenges posed by them.

And I would like to thank the CAC Chairs of the Women's Institutions who work diligently to identify issues pertinent to the management of federally sentenced women and to help us respond to these issues at the local, regional and national levels.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Correctional Service of Canada staff who have been working very hard to respond to each CAC's needs and concerns and to make it easier for you to do your jobs. I know these staff members believe in you and will continue to challenge the Service to increase its awareness of CACs and its ability to capitalize on your potential.

I also want to sincerely thank each of you, and the local committees you represent, for your hard work, your questions, and your continued commitment to corrections and public safety. I know that you have given generously of your time in numerous community outreach activities, including speaking engagements, public forums, community get-togethers and talk shows. Thank you for your dedication to making Canada a safer place. We at the national and regional levels could talk until we're blue in the face; it would all be for naught without your words, your actions, your time and your commitment to serving your communities.

I know there has been debate in the past about the need for CAC members to remain to be, and be perceived to be, independent from the Correctional Service of Canada. We respect this, and we understand your concerns. In fact, we agree. You cannot perform your full role if you are not, or perceived as not being, independent. But I don't think your involvement in correctional activities necessarily taints your independence. I think that it makes it stronger. We shouldn't view your independence as creating tension.

That being said, there are a lot of tensions that are intrinsic to corrections.

Tension between the voices for more control of offenders and those for more assistance to offenders. Tension between the need to remain independent and the need to gain experience by becoming involved. Tension between the desire to open the floor to discussion and the desire to listen only to familiar voices. Tension between the need to involve communities and the desire to be insular. Tension between the need to develop relationships and the need to stay at arm's length. Tension between the calls for funding for operational requirements and those calling for funding for oversight obligations. Tension between the need for change and the desire to stay the same.

These tensions are real. They are both barriers to change and symbols of the stability so essential to the delivery of services.

But above all, they are the sign of a debate characterized by respect for the complexity of the challenges that criminality presents. And while it is difficult to manage the tension at times, it is always better to have it than to operate in a vacuum, suspicious of others, failing to frame the future and to really make a difference.

I remain committed to you, the Citizens' Advisory Committees across the country, and to the fundamental need to respond to the public's needs in corrections, primarily through their participation. We couldn't do our jobs without you, and we cannot thank you enough for the time and energy you donate to the cause of public safety in Canada.

I would like to introduce you to a way to capture these themes.

It is for that reason that I will attempt to influence your Individual Site Specific Plan of Action through your new Chairperson, Mr. Sean Taylor, by asking you to help me in 2 specific areas.

First, in the area of enhancing community supervision, I would like your help in finding 5 placements for conditionally released offenders.

Second, in the area of citizen engagement, I would like you to find 3 citizen engagement opportunities in unfamiliar territories for Wardens and District Directors to do together.

Thank you for listening to me this Saturday morning and I will now take questions.