Minister Jacques P. Dupuis of the Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec announced on April 28 that the Quebec Government would be moving forward with the implementation of An Act Respecting the Quebec Correctional System, which received Royal assent on June 13, 2002, four years earlier. We can only rejoice in that announcement. Let us recall that this legislation was enacted in the aftermath of tragic events and an inquiry that brought to the fore major deficiencies in the Quebec correctional system, as well as a loss of confidence in the correctional system’s ability to ensure the effective and safe reintegration of offenders under its care.
In addition to defining more clearly the obligations of the Correctional Services relative to evaluation, reintegration and public safety, the new legislation includes a statutory recognition of the partnership that ought to link the community network of agencies involved in criminal justice to the Correctional Services in the achievement of their mission. This partnership is exemplified by the ministerial decision to involve the community network in the supervision of 52 % of offenders under supervision in the community. This includes all types of community-based sanctions : probation orders, conditional sentences of imprisonment, temporary absences and parole. As a net result of that decision, the number of cases involving community practitioners in supervision will rise from the current 1,200 or so to more than 8,000 by February 1st, 2007.
“A number of stakeholders seemed sceptical as to the possible success of that endeavour. Fortunately, their scepticism was unfounded.”
The Minister’s decision called for a tight implementation schedule. Everything was to be in place by February 1st, 2007. To that end, the Direction générale des Services correctionnels du Québec (DGSC) developed an implementation plan that established December 1st, 2006 as the date for the signing of the “ ententes de partenariat ”, the phrase that will henceforth define de service agreements linking the DGSC and community agencies involved in the community supervision of offenders. For that to happen, negotiations pertaining to the standards and requirements applicable to community agencies as well as the content of the agreements had to be completed by October 2, 2006. A number of stakeholders seemed sceptical as to the possible success of that endeavour.
Fortunately, their scepticism was unfounded for, following four intensive negotiation sessions involving the DGSC, the ASRSQ and the ROCRQ (Regroupement des organismes communautaires de référence du Québec), the main texts necessary for the signing of the agreements were tabled before the Senior Management Committee of the DGSC. And this would not have been possible without the development of a positive working climate between the DGSC and the community network. It is my hope that, for many observers of the provincial scene over the past fifteen years, this will mark the dawning of a new era in the relationship between community-based organizations and the Quebec correctional network. Of course, implementing new legislation amounts to much more than negotiating appropriate texts. This process will have daily impacts as of December 2006. Changing the course in such a way will lead to a major upturn in our way of doing things and require that we make the necessary adjustments along the way. Let us hope that the climate that prevailed during our negotiations will extend into the field. If so, this endeavour is assured of success.
In closing, I wish to name the people who contributed to the success of our negotiations. The Direction générale des Services correctionnels du Québec was represented by Mr. Gilles Soucy, Mses. Solange Bastille and Maryse Allard. For her part, Ms. Louise Bastien delved into the issue of supervision standards. The community network was represented by Messrs. Daniel Bellemare, Marc Meloche, Patrick Altimas and Réal Boyer, the latter four representing the ASRSQ, while Ms. Nicole Raymond represented the ROCRQ. Let us be proud of our achievement and celebrate the dawning of new era when the community will once again be deemed worthy of dealing with delinquency in its midst.
