Let's Talk

Thinking BIG

BY Bill Rankin, Communications Officer, Communications and Citizen Engagement Sector

Photo: Bill Rankin

Sean Taylor at the national CAC conference in Ottawa

Sean Taylor is a big man with big ideas for citizens’ advisory committees (CAC) across Canada. The six-foot-five police officer from Saskatoon has been a CAC member for 13 years, seven on the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Chair for the last two. His enthusiasm for this very special volunteer position has grown over time despite the difficult balancing act involving his day job, family, and the demands of 105 CACs across the country.

During his tenure, Taylor and his colleagues have worked hard to raise the CAC profile from coast to coast, increasing the number of local units and further entrenching their role in the correctional system as advisors to CSC, liaisons to the community, and as independent observers. The NEC has also managed to embed essential accountability clauses into the CSC management framework in the form of Commissioner’s Directive 023, signed off by Commissioner McClung in March 2003.

“The Commissioner or the Senior Deputy Commissioner make it a priority to attend our meetings when we are in Ottawa,” Taylor comments. “And our profile within the organization has been elevated thanks to our interaction with the Executive Committee [EXCOM]. Last year we made two presentations to EXCOM — that was unheard of in the past.”

CACs derive their support from recommendations found in the MacGuigan Report and to subsequent validation in Section 7 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations. CSC has taken this one large step further by making it mandatory that each institution have its own independent CAC.

Taylor wants every community to understand and appreciate the important role that CACs carry out: giving ordinary citizens a window into corrections, providing independent community input, and increasing CSC’s accountability to the public. However, he has discovered that building awareness is a constant battle that requires patience and repetition, hammering home the same messages at every opportunity. At a recent presentation to 62 group home operators, the crowd was surveyed: only three knew of the existence of CACs.

“Obviously more work needs to be done,” says Taylor. “We are going to do more public presentations and publish an annual report that will be accessible at the community level. We are also working with CSC to gain more visibility by establishing a CAC portal on the CSC Web site.”

Recently funds were secured to make the national CAC conference an annual event. This was an important achievement for Taylor. “National annual conferences are an extremely effective tool. There’s a big-time pooling of ideas, a great way to solve problems and share best practices.”

Of course, all this activity doesn’t come without a personal price. Taylor admits he spends 600 hours a year away from home plus daily reading time to catch up on the latest developments. But he and other CAC members believe their efforts are worthwhile. “I work with some very dedicated people on the National CAC Executive,” he says. “We put in this time because we want to see our good ideas become reality.”

A recent CSC research report (June 2004) states that of the more than 600 CAC members, a high proportion are satisfied with their contributions and experiences, however, they want to increase their effectiveness in both the community and institutions, with a greater focus on assisting with programs and policies. Sean Taylor is confident that in the coming months and years this will happen. ♦