Commissioner's Speeches

Presentation of the Ron Wiebe Award for Restorative Justice

Remarks by:

Lucie McClung
Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada

Ron Wiebe Award Ceremony
Federal Training Centre
Laval Quebec
Wednesday November 19, 2003


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Good evening every one, nominees for the Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award, ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to be here with you this evening.

This evening is intended as a moment's rest in your busy lives to recognize the work of people dedicated to resolving conflicts that are extremely broad in scope.

We are here to celebrate the individual and collective efforts that reflect this year's theme of Restorative Justice Week: Pathways to a Strengthened Community.

Restorative Justice Defined

In the face of crime or conflict, restorative justice is a philosophy and approach that views these matters as principally harm done to people and relationships.

Restorative justice seeks to provide safe opportunities for voluntary participation between those affected - victims, offenders, community - to encourage accountability, reparation, safety and movement towards understanding, feelings of satisfaction, healing and closure

The development of restorative justice is an important phenomenon in Canada - speaking not only to our unique collective identity but also to the future that we envision and are trying to create for ourselves.

Crime in not only the affair of the few -- it is the affair of the community. That's where it happens, that's where people's lives are most affected by it, that's where victims deal with its painful aftermath, and that's where offenders come from and go back to.

The men and women who work in corrections are acutely aware of this dynamic. We see its implications on a daily basis - when visitors come into our prisons, when we do community assessments, when we share information with victims, when community members voice their opinions about our work, when we supervise offenders back into the community.

Restorative justice gives us the perspective as well as the tools to look at and work through the human realities that come with crime and conflict.

For that reason, CSC has increasingly invested in exploring this approach in our work, for example, through the development of victim offender mediation and other restorative approaches for serious crime. Given its success, we now have the obligation to make the lessons of this work available to more communities across Canada.

We have been involved with many partners in educating, training and creating materials and tools to help communities practice restorative justice. But not enough - we need to do more for the sake of our communities - that is why CSC`s Executive Committee have made OUTREACH a corporate objective for each executive in the organization. It is time to go out and help communities more directly, beyond the help that is directed towards individual offender.

We have also rethought conflict resolution within our prison settings - I can refer to a unique project at Grande Cache Institution: the Restorative Justice Living Unit where staff, inmates and community members have jointly received skills based training in restorative justice. In this Unit, these principles and practices guide daily operations. Conflicts of all kinds are dealt with constructively through mediation and circle process. Offenders support and challenge one another to look at the human consequences of their crimes and address their criminogenic factors. They prepare for release with a view to rebuilding their relationship with community restoratively.

CSC has been very active on many fronts in the Quebec region, especially through its innovative restorative justice initiatives. I am thinking of the VISA program, the project called Arc-en-ciel, at La Macaza Institution, as well as the program providing for dialogue between victims and offenders at Donnaconna Institution.

Restorative justice has taken a unique turn here that we would be remiss in overlooking. In Quebec, we have seen some impressive developments, involving many people and organizations. In addition, the critical analysis and ongoing dialogue between theorists and front-line workers are yielding significant results.

Through its academics, practitioners and researchers, Quebec demonstrated its leadership in restorative justice within the international Francophonie at the important seminar held in Estérel. One of the tangible outcomes of this event will be the creation of a directory of Francophone restorative justice resources. In addition, the Université de Montréal, together with a number of partners and CSC, will be developing a course on restorative justice. All these initiatives will continue to increase the visibility and awareness of restorative justice in Francophone circles.

As I mentioned earlier, this is Restorative Justice Week; an event now in its 8th year in Canada.

CSC is extremely proud to be associated with a week that fosters so many partnership opportunities.

In communities across the country, people are having discussions and are taking action to make restorative justice a part of their lives - to make them better.

You will impressed to know that there are over 100 known activities being offered in Canada this year. Most of them are partnered events which are open to the public.

For example, in Newfoundland, criminal justice and community leaders met earlier this week develop strategies to advance restorative justice in that province.

In Peterborough, a local restorative justice committee launched a restorative justice board game for children and adults to help promote understanding of victim and offender experiences.

In Ottawa, Ontario and North Battleford, Saskatchewan, an innovative on-line restorative justice dialogue was organized jointly by CSC and the RCMP and held earlier today with students at two high schools.

In Winnipeg, the mayor has once again officially declared the Week and an exciting variety of activities will engage many parts of the community.

In British Columbia, Restorative Justice Week will be celebrated both inside and outside prison with creative opportunities to meet and take action. For the first time business leaders in Victoria will gather to talk about the subject of restorative justice.

And in the Quebec region, CSC sponsored an activity together with the Bar of the Province of Quebec, where members of the public were invited to speak about our justice system and describe what the principles of restorative justice can contribute to it.

And of course, throughout the province and at all CSC institutions in Quebec, there have been and will continue to be various activities and opportunities to deepen our understanding of restorative justice.

Yet we must also go beyond discussion - I will leave it up to Jane to review the debate conclusions in order to put forward concrete measures that the CSC Executive Committee could consider. I think the January session will be a good time to do that.

Ron Wiebe, as many of you know, had a long and distinguished career in CSC. He was the Warden of Ferndale and Elbow Lake Institutions and a member of the National Steering Committee on Restorative Justice and Dispute Resolution. Ron was had deep-rooted belief in the principles of restorative justice and he lived their values on a daily basis in his work and in his daily life.

Ron's interests and understandings in this area led him to champion its development within the Service and to support the ongoing evolution of Aboriginal corrections.

This led, for example, to increased use of mediation approaches to resolve conflicts in our prisons and led to the transition of Elbow Lake toward and healing facility based on Aboriginal traditions.

Ron died on July 28th, 1999 after an intense and hard-fought battle with cancer.

He was deeply respected for his work in CSC and in his community.

After Ron's death in 1999, there was a desire to honour him in a meaningful way, and to recognize the contributions he made to restorative justice as well as his wish to see these ideas gain strength. That's the Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award.

Each year a Selection Committee is chosen to reflect the many voices on restorative justice. This year's committee of ten was composed of:

• Gerry Baragar, National Restorative Justice Coordinator, RCMP
• Robert Brown, a previous nominee
• Norma Davignon, Senior Manager Responsible for Restorative Justice and Victims, Yukon Justice
• Wilma Derksen, 2001 Ron Wiebe Award Recipient and a victim of serious crime
• Rene Durocher, a Lifeline In-reach Worker
• Charles Emmrys, Chair of the national executive committee of CSC's Citizen Advisory Committees
• Steve Sullivan, a national victims advocate
• Joanne Vallee, Executive Director, ASRSQ,
• Jane Miller-Ashton, Director General, Restorative Justice and Dispute Resolution, CSC
• Scott Harris, Director, Restorative Justice, CSC

Each of the Committee members carefully reviewed the nominations independently, and according to pre-established criteria.

Unlike many committees, however, when they convened as a group to discuss the nominations, they did not debate, nor lobby, nor simply call a vote.

Instead, they used a respectful circle process and a consensus decision-making approach.

The nominees come from every province and territory, from various backgrounds and walks of life. They range in age from early 20s to mid 80s, including six women 12 men and six groups. Five CSC employees were nominated and eight nominations were put forward by CSC employees.

I would now like to provide you with an opportunity to meet these fine people. I turn the floor over to Selection Committee Members Jane Miller-Ashton and Joanne Vallée, who will show us a presentation highlighting the nominees and their work.

As Jane and Joanne introduce our nominees, I would ask any who are present to come forward, when their names are read out.

I would ask Jeff Wiebe to join me on the stage to present the certificates to these individuals.

Jane, Joanne…

Almost 30 years ago in Elmira Ontario two young men vandalized a neigbourhood causing considerable damage to numerous private homes and businesses.

Both of them pleaded guilty. The probation officer who prepared the pre-sentence report for the court, supported by a Mennonite colleague, recommended that the offenders should meet with their many victims to apologize and to make things right if possible. The judge was not certain about this novel idea at first. He originally said no and then changed his mind in court and gave the go ahead.

The two young men, accompanied by the probation officer and the Mennonite colleague, made the rounds of the community, knocking on the doors of 22 victims. Sometimes they were welcomed. Sometimes not. But in the end, amends were made, restitution was paid and relationships and community were strengthened!

That was 1974 and the first officially recognized victim-offender mediation had taken place! Of course restorative justice practice has evolved considerably since then but this remarkable and courageous event paved the way.

The probation officer could not have known, then, that that event would mark the beginning of the contemporary restorative justice movement, and would open the door to hundreds of such programs in Canada and around the world.

The probation officer was Mark Yantzi - the 2003 Ron Wiebe Award recipient! Mark made the recommendation to the judge out of a deeply held belief in a different way of doing justice, a belief rooted in his Mennonite faith.

Mark went on from that day to establish Community Justices Initiatives in Kitchener, an agency still devoted today to creating victim offender mediation opportunities. This led to his later active leadership over many years in establishing several additional programs: a service for victims, a community mediation program for neighbourhood disputes, support programs for both sexual abuse perpetrators and their victims, and a circles of support program for federally sentenced women on release. Mark remains an active part of it all.

Imagine the hundreds and hundreds of citizens over 30 years that have been positively impacted by these restorative initiatives and imagine too the countless programs that Mark's first agency inspired in other locations?

In the words of the award criteria, Mark's pioneer leadership has truly "transformed human relations in new and innovative ways." He, through his work, has "enabled and promoted communication and healing between people in conflict."

In addition, Mark has written extensively on the subject of restorative justice as a way to educate others. He assisted three men in writing a book about their personal journey of healing from abuse. Another of his books tackled the application of restorative justice to sexual offending in a sensitive and insightful way.

In all of his work Mark has involved community and has worked in partnership along side others in prison, on city council, in classrooms and churches, both in his own home town, across Canada and internationally. Mark is greatly respected for what he has done and for what he continues do. He makes time for people. He listens profoundly and helps both victims and offenders build the links they need to do restoration work for themselves and for others.

In the words of one of his nominators, a federally sentenced woman "He is Mr. Restorative Justice to me…the world needs many more of him. He has helped me to look at the bigger picture. I believe I have grown as a person and I now give back to my community."

This year's winner, all nominees, past recipients, and each one of us all have a role to play is creating pathways to a strengthened community.

Restorative justice needs the input of communities to achieve its full potential. And this evening, the efforts we have heard about show us that this is exactly what is happening. Let us follow the example of Ron Wiebe, Mark Yantzi and all the nominees for this award. In that way, the restorative justice movement can, as Ron hoped, become "the cornerstone of corrections and the community in the new millennium."

Thank you for your attention. Good night to everyone.