The Association des services de rehabilitation sociale du Quebec (ASRSQ) had awaited with keen anticipation the day when the Québec government would at last provide itself with the tools necessary to ensure a more accurate assessment of the adult offenders under its jurisdiction, to implement a better framework to guide the reintegration process, and to allow for more involvement of the dynamic forces of the community. Legislation, An Act respecting the Québec correctional system¸ had been adopted unanimously by the National Assembly in June of 2002 and contained a number of responses to the needs of the community and of offenders. But it was not until May 2006 that the Government announced that the Act would be implemented. And, effectively, it came into force on February 5, 2007, except for a few provisions. We applaud the efforts of all those who contributed to making this happen, both from within the public service and from the community.
The coming into force of this Act is of particular and critical importance for the network of community agencies that are members of the Association de services de réhabilitation sociale du Québec. Indeed, the historical role played by community agencies is acknowledged at the very top of the Act, under section 1:
“1. The correctional services of the Ministère de la Sécurité publique, the Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles and the community-based organizations which are their partners, as well as all society’s stakeholders having an interest in the correctional system shall facilitate the reintegration of offenders into the community.”
Hence, the Act acknowledges that community agencies are partners and that the community reintegration of offenders is the cornerstone of the Québec correctional system.
Section 28 provides more detail as to the level of involvement of these agencies:
“28. Stakeholders from community-based organizations that are partners of the correctional services shall participate in community supervision to the extent and on the conditions determined by the Minister.”
It was the Ministers who decided that the involvement of the community network and its members would be significant and of very major scope. We applaud the Minister’s courage on that score, given the extent to which everybody’s practice would be altered, as well as the obstacles to be overcome by the Government.
A 1997 partnership agreement signed with then Minister of Public Security, Pierre Bélanger, had defined the framework of the partnership linking the Ministry, including the Correctional Services of Québec, and the community network. Over the months that followed the announcement by the current Minister, Jacques P. Dupuis, we were successful in fine-tuning that framework on the basis of this legislation which, as I mentioned, acknowledges the role of community-based agencies. All this did not occur spontaneously, or overnight. Indeed, as early as the summer of 2006, the Board of Directors of ASRSQ had charged its Negotiating Committee with engaging in negotiations the with the Correctional Services of Québec with a view to developing the agreements required for the implementation of the Act, having particular concern for the various aspects of the involvement of the community-based agencies.
This Committee was made up of Daniel Bellemare, Executive Director of Maison Radisson, Marc Meloche, Executive Director of Transition Centre-sud, Réal Boyer, a volunteer member of the Board of Directors of ASRSQ, and Patrick Altimas, Executive Director of ASRSQ; they participated in 13 negotiation meetings and several other meetings of the Provincial Committee, whose members were actively involved in the preparation and follow-up of the negotiations. Collectively, they devoted some 300 hours of work to this process over a six-month period. Congratulations and thanks to all.
The implementation of this Act contributed to the development of the community network of agencies involved in criminal justice to an extent which was unmatched since the 70’s, at the time when the halfway house movement began to expand. A total of 25 community-based agency members of ASRSQ were officially acknowledged as partners under the Act; of the remaining 10 or 12 acknowledged partners, two became members of our Association. We can therefore assert with pride that 27 of the 54 ASRSQ members are involved as partners in the supervision of some 7,500 offenders throughout almost all regions of Québec. As one might say, “Who’da thunk it?” This represents a major and historical milestone in the development of the community network and I feel privileged to have guided the fate of ASRSQ during that period.
The implementation of the Act, particularly the new way of collaborating with the correctional network, will go through some rough patches and will require vigilance as well as the will to address problems as they arise. As stated by Gilles Soucy, Head Negotiator for the Correctional Services of Québec, whom I wish to salute and thank, “this is a work in progress”. Given the spirit that prevailed throughout the negotiations involving the Québec Correctional Services and the community network, I am confident that our relationship as partners can only grow stronger as years go by, and that will benefit both the clients we serve and the community to which we belong. One of the lessons to be learnt from this experience is that one should never give up.
