Features

The Official Languages Act (OLA) Part 7 requires that Government of Canada departments take positive measures to enhance the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada by supporting their development. Official language minority communities (OLMCs) are generally English-speaking people in the province of Quebec and francophones in the rest of Canada.

Inuit communities share ties to Canada's oceans that span generations. They value the oceans as a source of livelihood, food security, and transportation routes. The Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium (NFMTC), a not-for-profit organization created in 2005, provides training opportunities to Nunavut land claim beneficiaries interested in pursuing careers in the fishing industry through the Kisarvik Program.

Kat Ferguson and Sharp Dopler are just a generation apart, but their experiences as “out” members of the LGBTQ2 community could not have been more different. Because of a superior officer’s homophobia, Sharp was subject to an unfounded military police investigation while working with the Cadet Instructors Cadre as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. The result was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the end of a military career that had been a major part of Sharp’s life and identity.

Carrie Gouthro has worked for Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for 22 years and has been involved in the Ontario Law Enforcement Torch Run (OLETR) for the same amount of time. The LETR is the world’s largest public awareness and grassroots fundraising organization for Special Olympics, and the Torch Run is the most well-known event hosted by the organization.

As CSC works to address cases of harassment and bullying within the organization, senior managers are encouraging employees to use the assortment of tools at their disposal to report inappropriate behaviour as soon as it happens.

On Thursday, January 18, 2018, Stony Mountain Institution (SMI) was honoured to host former NHL player Theoren (Theo) Fleury, who attended the institution to share his story of trauma and healing with offenders and staff.

One of the main goals of CORCAN, a special operating agency within the Correctional Service of Canada, is to help offenders develop marketable skills that can help them find employment and successfully re-integrate into society.

The Correctional Service of Canada Museum (also known as Canada’s Penitentiary Museum) has reopened its doors for the season and is already off to a record start. Curator Dave St. Onge says that 1,532 visitors have been through the museum since May 1, which represents a gain of 14 percent over the same time period last year.

Maxime-Kalifa Sanou is all about sports and shows exemplary discipline. A former coach of the Rouge et Or at the Université Laval, an excellent basketball player and an accomplished boxer, Maxime has been an Admission and Discharge Officer at Donnaconna Institution since September 2016. Prior to this position, he worked there as a correctional officer for over eight years.

Addressing and treating mental health disorders among offenders is a challenge CSC faces on a regular basis. But thanks in part to some fresh voices and new initiatives in the organization, progress is continually being made. 

Tony Vanderwal and Bernie Martens were used to doing volunteer work through their churches when they first learned about M2/W2, then called Canadian Job Therapy (M2), in the late 1960s.

This April marks the Office of Conflict Management’s (OCM) 10-year anniversary. Located in all five regions and at National Headquarters (NHQ), the OCM has been providing a safe space to feel heard and understood and has helped to create stronger human connections over the course of the last ten years.