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Ottawa, August 3, 2004 - Reverend Pierre Allard, Assistant Commissioner for Community Engagement at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), received the 2004 Maud Booth Correctional Services Award yesterday, in Chicago, from Volunteers of America, a non-profit, spiritually-based organization with more than 14,000 employees and nearly 70,000 volunteers providing a variety of social services, including correctional programs, to 1.8 million Americans.

"Throughout his career, Reverend Allard has shown tremendous leadership in building community support geared towards the safe reintegration of offenders," said CSC Commissioner Lucie McClung. "His vision and his commitment stem from deeply-held beliefs in the human potential of each offender. We are delighted and honored that he has been chosen for this award."

Allard has been widely recognized for his work in the field of community-based corrections and for his advocacy of restorative justice, a form of conflict resolution that aims to heal the wounds caused by crime and encourages offenders to take responsibility for the harm they have caused.

In 1998, he received the first Head of the Public Service Award. At the Canadian Criminal Justice Association congress in 2001, he received both the Good Samaritan Award and the Achievement Award. In 2002, Governor General presented Reverend Allard with the Meritorious Service Medal.

"This is a great honor," Allard said, in accepting the Maud Booth Award, named for the co-founder of Volunteers of America and a pioneer in prison reform. "But it's also very humbling. Whenever I am given an award, I feel that I have received it on behalf of my wife, Judy, my colleagues and offenders with whom I have journeyed."

Allard, who holds a Doctorate in Ministry, began working with CSC in 1972 as a chaplain at Archambault Institution. In 1977, he became chaplain at Dorchester Penitentiary and was the regional chaplain for the Atlantic Region. In 1987, he became Director of Chaplaincy at the department's national headquarters, and served as Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, from 1998 to 2000. He is also president of the International Prison Chaplain's Association.

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