Commissioner's Speeches

Presentation to the Committee on Community Safety and Crime Prevention

Remarks by:

Lucie McClung
Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada

Federation of Canadian Municipalities 66th Annual General Meeting
May 30, 2003
Winnipeg, Manitoba


Check against delivery

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, distinguished municipal representatives, and special guests. I truly appreciate the opportunity to speak before the Federation of Canadian Municipalities at its 66th Annual Conference on Competitive Communities.

It is an opportunity because it offers us a platform to talk about, and work towards meeting a shared interest, indeed a shared commitment to the well-being of our communities, both in the immediate as well as in the long-term.

The Correctional Service of Canada, as part of the criminal justice system, has a vital role to play vis-à-vis the health of communities across Canada.
" The purpose of the federal correctional system is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society:

• by carrying out sentences imposed by courts through the safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders; and
• by assisting the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens through the provision of programs in penitentiaries and in the community."

I am citing your Corrections and Conditional Release Act - the piece of legislation that governs decision-making and activities within the CSC. Canadian federal corrections goes beyond imprisonment to include the very difficult task of changing criminal behavior.

We know that most offenders are serving sentences of a fixed length and will eventually come back into our communities, among us. Our mandate is to find ways to reduce the potential for re-offending.

Our goal is one of insistence if you will, insisting that each offender directs his/her attention towards switching gears: moving from involvement in crime to involvement in social and productive citizenship.

Finding keys to assist in this transformation is - I would suggest to you -- the most challenging part of federal corrections because offenders have - generally speaking -- failed social and judicial systems that have been instrumental in shaping our lives.

So how is this possible?

Experience and research have told us repeatedly that when we target the specific factors that lead to crime, and teach through correctional interventions, it actually is possible for a person to change.

Experience and research - here and elsewhere - have also told us that gradual and supervised releases to the community is the best ingredient for public safety.
I know full well that this premise is counter-intuitive to many people. And yet, researchers continue to tell us just that.

The most recent being the work of Sheila French and Paul Gendreau of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the University of New Brunswick.

This work, entitled "Safe and Humane Corrections Through Effective Treatment," examined 70 programs across a wide variety of jurisdictions to measure the impact of prison-based treatment programs on reducing misconduct rates and re-offending after release.

It revealed that offenders who successfully complete programs are less likely to re-offend.

Our results also support this approach to contributing to public safety:
For example, of the approximately 15,000 individuals who were under CSC supervision in communities last year;

• more than 90% were not convicted of crime. And, less than 2% of convictions involved violence.

These results have remained relatively constant over the last several years.

Do these results mean that it is good enough, that we can now rest?

I am not of that view.

You would be the first to point out that it is never enough, and I agree. Because crime has devastating effects upon individuals as well as upon society as a whole.

To seek to improve matters, CSC has adopted a three-pronged approach:

1. we look for continuous improvement;
2. we measure: benchmarks with other jurisdictions; and
3. this is what I would like to talk to you more about: we are looking to augment the tool kit to assist in successful reintegration.

What does this mean for you, and I?

Well, simply put, we now know that the more targeted is 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 following release from prison.

Consequently, we must strengthen the bridge between the prison wall and the community. We know what offenders need:

• They need role models;
• They need contact with the community -- the more, the better.
• They need structure and support that take the form of halfway houses, access to medical, social/employment services, churches and other community faith and support groups, etc...

Now, we need to hear more precisely what you need.

How to best prepare individuals in the community who will be affected by their return.

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 his/her release.

This - I would 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.

CSC has been fortunate with its involvement with aftercare agencies and individual organizations for some 30 years.

For the last 10 years, the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Parole Board have benefited from a solid partnership with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities through the Joint FCM/CSC/NPB Committee on Community Corrections. You will hear more about this Program this afternoon.

Let me give you an example of how to strengthen the bridge between the prison wall and the community : Circles of Support - some 75 across the country - involving citizens to keep watch and help the offender reintegrate. It is my hope to see every offender surrounded for success.

There is a saying that speaks to "it takes two to...". I am suggesting that this is also the case for corrections: it does take two, and often many more, to build futures.

As we prepared for the millennium, many words were written to smooth the path of our transition. One drew my attention because I thought that it would predict the manner in which we would deal with each other in the beginning of the millennium: it suggested that "In the 21st Century, partnership would be the organizing principle of the Universe."

I believe that it must be the organizing principle for corrections.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon.

I will be pleased to answer any questions that you may have.