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A modern day warrior
Danny Bruno’s Lakeland College experience inspires him to make a difference every day. As a carpentry instructor for The Indigenous Offender Employment Project at the Pê Sâkâstêw Centre, a minimum-security correctional facility, in Mâskwâcîs, Alta. (90 kilometres south of Edmonton), Bruno is equipping ‘adult learners’ with usable skills to transition from incarceration to the working world.
Indigenous education opportunities for offenders at EIFW
“Education is the new Buffalo." This statement by guest speaker Dr. Pat Makokis, during an outreach event at the Edmonton Institution for Women (EIFW), struck a chord with Dr. Tracy Bear. The idea that education can provide First Nation and Métis people with food, clothing, and shelter as the buffalo once did was inspiring. So were the inmate testimonials she heard at the 2017 event.
Construction Course Helps Two Communities
In the fall of 2019, CORCAN instructor Mark Charleson delivered a construction course to eight residents at Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge. The course taught residents basic construction skills, such as planning, gathering materials, measuring, cutting and building. The residents divided into two groups to put into practice what they had learned. Each group was tasked with building a shed.
CORCAN and OOHL Build Relationships with Nekaneet First Nation
On November 30, 2020, the keys to a new home were handed over to the Nekaneet First Nation. It was the first house built by residents of the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge (OOHL) for female offenders, outside Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.
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Features
The Legacy of Dr. Emerson Douyon
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is increasingly aware of the needs of ethnocultural offenders, thanks in large part to the pioneering work of Dr.
Giving back - Lifer’s Group donation to Emma’s Acres
On May 21, 2019, the Mountain Institution Lifer’s Group donated a bench grinder and cheque to a few special volunteers for their efforts and work through Emma’s Acres/LINC. Emma’s Acres is an agricultural social enterprise managed by the Long-Term Inmates Now in the Community, better known as LINC, which was founded in 1992 by Glen and Sherry Flett in Mission, BC.
Writing for Personal Growth
In order to encourage Donnacona Institution students to write beyond the scholastic context, I invited them to participate in the Ma plus belle histoire writing contest for adult students in Quebec.
Lookout Garden at Mission Institution
It was a long, hot summer. Usually this type of statement in a correctional facility is an indicator that things are not going well and trouble is brewing, but at Mission Minimum, it was a sign that good deeds were on the horizon.
The positive impacts of CORCAN work experiences on reintegration
A new CORCAN project began in the Quebec Region in the summer of 2018 to support offenders on conditional release with their social and occupational reintegration. This initiative allows them to work as installers on a transitional basis to develop and apply technical and job-related skills prior to entering the job market.
Nova Institution, the new Smartpods Pulse assembly and testing site
Tucked away at Nova Institution in Truro, Nova Scotia offenders are hard at work at the new Pulse assembly and testing site. This site is operated by CORCAN as part of the offender employment and employability program.
