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Building Bridges with Canadian Ethnocultural Communities

BY Bill Rankin, Communications Officer, Communications and Citizen Engagement

Photo: Bill Rankin

“Tell me how we, together, can overcome the challenges of diversity,” said Dr. Michael Bettman, CSC Acting Director General, Offender Programs and Reintegration, appealing to the audience.

A major challenge to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is dealing with an offender population that, like the rest of Canada, is becoming more and more ethnically diverse. Community groups, agencies and representatives of CSC gathered in the multicultural city of Toronto recently to deal with this issue at the Building Bridges with Ethnocultural Communities conference.

“Tell me how we, together, can overcome the challenges of diversity,” said Dr. Michael Bettman, CSC Acting Director General, Offender Programs and Reintegration, appealing to the audience.

Organized by Marcel Kabundi, Manager, Ethnocultural Programs and his committee from the Reintegration Programs Division, the conference brought together people from over 30 countries of origin for three days of stimulating presentations and discussion on how to raise awareness about cultural differences among staff and offenders and to establish helpful links for inmates to their communities. All participants agreed that strong, positive support in the community is one of the most important factors contributing to successful reintegration and to minimize the likelihood of reoffending.

The first day opened with a welcoming speech by Councillor Michael Thompson from the Mayor’s office of the City of Toronto. CSC Assistant Commissioner Simon Coakeley welcomed the guests and encouraged them to use the strengths of Canada’s various cultures to stop criminality and to reintegrate offenders. He offered participants a David Letterman–style list of 10 personal commitments for overcoming the challenges faced by the correctional system and the communities it serves.

Thomas Yeung, a social worker and member of the regional ethnocultural advisory committee in Vancouver, offered a list of recommendations to CSC and the National Parole Board.

During the first two days, various speakers took the podium — from academia, the National Parole Board, CORCAN, regional ethnocultural advisory committees, legal groups, Immigration Canada, Statistics Canada and Afro-Canadian businesses. Each had their own perspective and offered unique insights into the reintegration of ethnocultural offenders.

On the third day, participants stressed the importance of leadership on the part of correctional officials and the availability of funding to support ethnocultural programs and activities as well as ethnocultural advisory committees across Canada.

The conference, a new manual and a new section of the CSC Web site that deals with ethnocultural issues were made possible with the generous assistance of Canadian Heritage and the hard work of employees from the Offender Programs and Reintegration. For more information, visit www.csc-scc.gc.ca/ethnoculture or contact Marcel Kabundi, Manager, Ethnocultural Programs, at ethnoculture@csc-scc.gc.ca or call (888) 273-3802. ♦