Citizen Advisory Committees

Ron Joiner's address at the CAC Session of the Community Relations National Conference – Ottawa - Nov 15, 2009

Good day. I hope everyone is enjoying this opportunity to meet with each other and form new relationships with our volunteers and lifeline partners who are present here at this conference. Part of our role as you know is to liaise and that also means engaging our partners in corrections because this weekend has been an excellent opportunity to build new bridges with groups that we have spent little time with in the past. It is a learning experience for us all.

Ursula (the National Chair of CAC ) spoke of the 3Cs, communication, consistency and compliance. She spoke of the dedication and enthusiasm of each and every one of you. She spoke of the commitment that you all have to make CAC a better organization and your commitment to seeing it grow and flourish. And I wholeheartedly agree!

As the Atlantic Region Chair I have sat at the National Executive table for the past two years and can assure you that we recognize all of the good work that you do and recognize that many committees have worked very hard to further the goals and objectives of CAC. I have heard of excellent projects and initiatives from all across Canada.

Ursula has her 3Cs, now I am going to talk about the 3Rs . Do you remember the 3Rs in grade school? Some of you older members might remember. Of course the third R was rithmatic beginning with an ”r” so we will apologize to the spellers out there. I have a variation on the 3Rs that I would like to offer to

you; the 3Rs for CAC ; they are Renew, Reorganize & Re-energize . This time the spelling is right!

As I mentioned I have been a Regional Chair of the Atlantic Region over 2 years and by virtue of that position I sit on the National Executive Committee, the “NEC” as we call it. It has been a great learning opportunity and a very positive experience for me but most importantly it has presented me with a

unique opportunity to learn the issues, deal with challenges and work in a co-operative and collegial manner with my counterparts in the other 4 regions and as Ursula mentioned I will be assuming the duties of National Chair in February.

I propose that the theme for the next two years should be the 3Rs ; let's begin;

RENEW : this is getting back to basics, what does it really mean to Liaise, Observe & Advise? Are we able to articulate our purpose to anyone who might ask? When was the last time your committee did a process check? Where is your committee now? Is it on track? Is it struggling? How much time do you spend at your meetings talking about your role, your objectives, and your responsibilities? Do you stop sometimes and ask yourself the question: Is it really our role to do such and such when presented with an issue? If you were to grade your CAC what letter grade would you give it? A, B, C......sorry I am an educator. If you were to give it an “A” be patient with me because you probably have all the bases covered. If you gave it a "B" what small thing would you change now if you had the power to change? If you gave it; a "C", perhaps you have work to do. And a "D" grade, well you know where I am going.

Have all of your members been through the CAC Orientation? It is a very worthwhile experience. Oftentimes members begin to have their first true understanding of their role through the process of orientation yet it is often overlooked as a basic tool in understanding who we are, what we do and what the big picture looks like. Do you provide access for your members to orientation training as a refresher for your members? There are some things you must know about CAC and CSC but there is no requirement for you to be an expert. I know a lot of you invite informed guests, staff, managers, offenders and notable professionals to your meetings; that is an excellent way of learning to grasp the issues at hand. As I said no one is expecting us to be experts and indeed it is our innocent inquisitiveness that helps us do what we do well.

We have heard a lot about the transformation agenda in the last two years and everyone will agree that the path that CSC is on will likely lead towards a better correctional service for Canadians. There have been notable successes that I don't need to remind you here. Perhaps we should think of ourselves as moving towards a similar transformation process. I am not sure what that would look like at this point and we have had some discussions around the national table about this but we have nothing written in stone so far. I have been to two regional conferences in the past year and I can tell you that members are interested in meaningful change but not for change for the sake of change. Some things work well, we know that, witness to the fact that we have been around for over 30 years. However we need to identify what needs fixing, we need to identify what needs to be changed and develop an effective strategy to manage it.

REORGANIZE is the next R. How is your CAC doing? Would an amalgamation with another committee make sense? Is it practical? Are regional committees the way to go? Should we retain our current structure? Do we need to look at new models? However, as we discovered in our discussions at the national level one size may not fit all so we must proceed with caution. Are we following policy? Are you too big in membership – or too small that you have difficulty functioning as a committee? Are your members actively engaged in the work of CAC ? Do you have too much turnover in membership and why? Do you reflect the diversity of your community? Are meeting times convenient for your members? These are some of the questions you might ask.

Many committees have a set of bylaws that guide them in their activities? Do you have bylaws and do you review them once per year? Is that something your committee should have as an anchor? Do your meetings have some level of organization complete with an agenda with input from the members and that when motions are made they are recorded and that when action items are made they are followed? I know that many of you do. What do you do with your minutes, how do you distribute them? How do you recruit? When you do recruit are you processing applicants quickly? Are you satisfied with the level of support from CSC ? Strong committees are those with commitment by its members and a commitment from the CSC staff responsible for it.

RE-ENERGIZE is the final R; are you satisfied with your committee as it is? Perhaps! There are some very strong committees who have their compasses pointed in the right direction, seem to have a sustained energy and know their role well. Others seem to have had trouble finding their way, finding their purpose, finding new direction or have temporarily lost their way. What do you need to do as a CAC to bring new energy to your committee? Is your CAC project based? Does your committee devote a part of its time planning activities and initiatives for the future? Do you have a plan of action for the year and does your plan outline the resources you will need to function in a healthy, productive way? What do you do to manage the internal health of your committee? I could go on.

So there it is, Renew, Reorganize and Re-energize , the 3Rs . We have made great progress over the years and continue to have a strong presence within CSC. Our contribution to CSC has also been valued. Commissioner Don Head mentioned yesterday ( November 14, 2009 ) that CAC is an independent set of eyes and ears. It was an excellent message from the commissioner. Our advice is valued, I know that. But there are things we need to work on. One example is this; as a larger group we need to communicate better. We need a better way to tell each other how we are doing. We need to share information among members; we need to cross regional boundaries, share best practices, share our Feel-good stories, and trumpet our many successes.

Let us Renew, Reorganize & Re-energize .

Thank you

Ron Joiner