Ethnocultural Initiatives: Presentations

Building Inclusive Institutions for Public Safety

By PAPR sector

March 26 and 27, 2009, representatives of Ethnocultural communities and agencies and CSC staff met in Toronto during the symposium on Building Inclusive Institutions for Public Safety .

With funding from the Canadian Heritage department, the CSC Ethnocultural Services Section in the Offender Programs and Reintegration Branch organized the event. It provided an opportunity for regional Ethnocultural services coordinators, prominent scholars and Ethnocultural community leaders from Canada and the US to present and discuss Ethnocultural issues at CSC in the context of the Transformation Agenda. Aiming to make CSC more inclusive as an institution, the symposium highlighted the obstacles that prevent people from accessing CSC services and programs in terms of linguistic barriers, lack of cultural competency, and other difficulties.

Ross Toller, CSC Regional Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Larry Motiuk, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Programs and Operations and Dr. Emerson Douyon, Chair, National Ethnocultural Advisory Committee (NEAC) and Retired Professor, School of Criminology, University of Montreal, opened the session with speeches, followed by questions from the floor. Participants also engaged other CSC speakers from across Canada in a dialogue that included a roundtable discussion and concluded with insightful recommendations.

On the second day, Commissioner Don Head and Morris Zbar, Chair, Transformation Team, addressed the core vision of transforming federal corrections and outlined the challenges involved in the process of initiating changes to an organization as large and complex as CSC. To ensure that all questions from participants were fully answered, the Commissioner extended the length of his participation. The full commitment of CSC senior management made a very positive impression on symposium attendees, who said they felt that important issues were being heard and considered by the CSC decision makers.

The symposium's topics evoked many emotional responses from participants. During a heated discussion, voices of concern were echoing past wrongs, drawing attention to the differences and divisions that exist between different Ethnocultural groups. Organizer Marcel Kabundi, Director of CSC Ethnocultural Services Section, refocused the discussion towards seeking viable solutions.

"To move beyond the 'US vs. THEM' dichotomy," he said, "let us use the inclusive 'WE' when looking for solutions that result in win-win situations. United we can triumph over any resistance and remove the barriers that divide us." His words became the motto of the entire event.

Participation of federal and provincial government representatives, as well as community leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds, created a very inclusive atmosphere during the symposium. The unique engagement of groups and committees from different backgrounds and cultural perspectives indicated the event was successful in enlisting community support for the CSC Transformation Agenda.

A review on the feasibility of the recommendations made by the participants at the symposium will be conducted, and an Action Plan will be developed and submitted to Senior Management for approval. Ultimately, the success of transformation and change depends on how many people believe in it and contribute to building better institutions that have strong ties with communities and share common visions or achievable objectives.