Articles and Related Media

Partnerships and the Correctional Service of Canada

By Christine Larose Senior Project Officer, Intergovernmental Affairs Branch, Correctional Service of Canada
(April 2001)

"We believe that the sharing of ideas, knowledge, values and experience, nationally and internationally, is essential to the achievement of our Mission."

Over the past years, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has gained international recognition as a world leader in corrections. Public safety is CSC's number one priority, and it promotes global security by assisting in the strengthening of democratic institutions abroad that are the cornerstones of civil society. These efforts are in keeping with the Government of Canada's foreign policy objective to promote Canadian beliefs, on a world stage, that helping to build stronger societies around the world will ultimately lead to greater global peace and prosperity.

One of the tools CSC employs to successfully achieve its international goals is through the signing of formal Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with countries demonstrating similar values and common goals. The MOU serves to define the perimeters of CSC's joint work with other countries and strengthens our working relationships and commitment with those countries.

In May 1999, CSC signed just such a MOU with the Ministry of Prisons and Correctional Services of the Republic of Namibia, formalizing the relationship CSC had already established with the Namibian Prison Service.

CSC's work with the Namibian Prisons dates back to September 1998, when a small delegation of Namibian officials, including the Commissioner of the Namibia Prison Service, visited CSC. The visit began at National Headquarters with a two-day overview of the Correctional Service including presentations on policies, legislative framework, strategic planning, research, offender programs, security and unit management, personnel and staff training, community supervision and CORCAN operations. In Ontario, the delegation toured various CSC institutions and met with senior staff. The visit's success was best captured in a letter from the Namibian Commissioner addressed to CSC's Commissioner in which he states, "...we left your country with the sentiment of an accomplished mission and the conviction that a new era of cooperation in the area of corrections between CSC and [the] Namibian Prison Service was born."

From this initial visit grew an interest and a desire, on both parts, to explore how we could best learn from the sharing of correctional knowledge, ideas, experiences and best practices. The Namibian government was eager to secure Canadian government assistance to establish and begin building its relatively young correctional service into a strong, resilient, and more efficient correctional system. What impressed the Namibians were CSC's mission, its management models and the concept of community supervision. An invitation was extended to CSC to send an assessment team to Namibia to view, firsthand, the workings of the Namibian Prison Service to determine what joint initiatives could assist their correctional system.

As a result of the visit, CSC sent a two-man team to Namibia to complete a thorough front-end needs assessment, to determine the nature and extent of assistance CSC would be able to provide. One of the primary challenges was to determine the infrastructure for sustainable growth and development, to carry out mutual initiatives. The final report of the assessment team concluded Namibia had been undergoing positive changes to their Prison Service over the past several years and that CSC was in a position to assist continuing efforts to help improve and reform their correctional system. An Annual Plan was developed, targeting the following priority areas of the Namibian Prison Service:

• to develop an automated offender population profile (offender management system);

• to develop correctional tools and an offender classification system -- basic intake assessment, security classification, program delivery, correctional planning and risk assessment; and

• to develop staff training

Since CSC's assessment visit in 1999, there has been a continuous exchange of information and staff between our two countries. A Namibian delegation visited a second time, in May 2000, and in November of the same year, CSC sent a two-man team to Namibia to begin work on the development of an offender management and population profile system, with a follow-up mission by an Information Technology specialist planned for April 2001. CSC's Director General of Research visited Namibia in mid-April, as well, to deliver a series of presentations on intake assessment, program delivery and strategic planning.

With the adoption of the Annual Plan, the need for staff exchange will increase. Opportunities will be made for staff from both countries to acquire new competencies, live new experiences and widen their knowledge base. As indicated by Mike Johnston of CSC, a member of the initial assessment team to Namibia, "The experience was personally very rewarding -- to understand the positive cultural influences on how they [Namibian Prison Service] manage offenders; to be in a position to share and provide our own research-based experiences through on-site visits; and to have an opportunity to be exposed to a beautiful country and people."

As part of the next phase of the Annual Plan, the Namibian government is planning to send two small groups of correctional officers to CSC's Ontario Region, to take part in Correctional Officer Training and Institutional/Community Parole Officer Training programs. CSC, in turn, is planning additional follow up visits to Namibia to monitor progress in areas under development.

The indication is CSC's relationship with the Namibian Ministry of Prisons and Correctional Services has been cast and will continue to thrive. From the outset, the Namibian Prison Service determinedly sought Canadian correctional expertise and Canada responded to their needs. And, Namibia has allocated financial resources to sponsor CSC staff to assist with its correctional reform efforts in Namibia.

There is an international demand for Canadian government public service expertise and, as emphasized in the Speech from the Throne, "Canada is an outward-looking country. we have a reputation internationally for making a difference."

CSC recognizes it has an obligation to contribute to the challenges facing other correctional jurisdictions, such as the Namibian Prison Service. We would be remiss if we closed our eyes to the support opportunities to the international community when we have the ability and the means to enhance the correctional practices of other jurisdictions and, perhaps, improve the lives of others.