It comes little more than a year after the government came under fire for cutting loose about 50 part-time minority faith chaplains after a Correctional Service of Canada ad for a Wiccan service provider, in particular, struck a nerve with then public safety minister Vic Toews, who said he was concerned about the use of taxpayer dollars.
Kairos Pneuma Chaplaincy Inc., a company started by a handful of current and former federal prison chaplains in direct response to the request for proposals issued in May, won the bid. Since October, about 30 full and part-time chaplains of all denominations, including Wicca and including many who worked in the federal prison system previously, have been serving prisoners across the country, according to company president John Tonks.
There are still about 81 chaplains working in the federal prison system and those employed by Kairos only account for about 22 per cent of the total. Most, he said, are still operating under multiple individual contracts signed between various faith communities and the government. But as those contracts expire, he explained, their positions will be replaced under the single contractor. Kairos, which was among at least three bidders, has the contract for a year and will have to bid again as the changes roll out over three years.
“This service delivery model will give the national contractor flexibility to respond to religious and spiritual needs represented by either large or small numbers of offenders,” Correctional Service of Canada spokeswoman Veronique Rioux said in an email.
“This model will respond to both the present and future multi-faith needs of a diverse offender population.”
Tonks said it became clear that the government “had to recant” on its plan to slash all part-time chaplains. It wasn’t just about Wiccans, he said, adding the move created a “crisis” within the prison system. There was “restlessness” among offenders over access to the faith leaders of their choice, he said, including among Quebec’s Protestant minority that was also serviced by part-time chaplains.
“So what the government (decided) is it’s more efficient, from their perspective at least, to go to one contractor,” he said, adding, “I think there are some advantages of going this direction.”
Under the new system, there is more “equity” among chaplains across the country in terms of pay, benefits and pension, he said. There’s also more flexibility to balance the workforce in terms of the ratio of men to women and the various religious denominations.
But while not “entirely a negative,” he said, there are still “mixed feelings” over the changes. An advantage before, Tonks said, was that chaplains remained closely connected to their faith group which “kept them healthy spiritually themselves.”
“Now we have to make sure that we build that in for our employees,” he said. “The Number 1 priority will always remain quality and having quality people and quality chaplains.”
Tonks describes the program as an “essential service” now more than ever as the correctional system has become “more punitive” under the Conservatives.
“I see chaplaincy as being vital for the safety of our communities because 90 some odd per cent of offenders are going to return there and if they have nothing but anger in them and no transformation has taken place in their lives, then we’re in deep trouble,” he said.
Toews ordered a review of the program last fall after halting a tender for part-time chaplains who could serve Buddhist, Wiccan, Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and Roman Catholic inmates in British Columbia. To the surprise of many stakeholders, he slashed the part-time, minority faith chaplains a month later.
It touched off a wave of criticism, with opposition MPs calling it an attack against religious freedom and a breach of the Charter, while religious clerics called it a misguided move that was unlikely to save money or souls.
The government defended its decision, saying full-time christian chaplains were capable of providing spiritual advice to those outside their faith, much like they’ve done in the Canadian Forces. The government said about 2,500 volunteers, many of them of minority faiths, would also continue providing services.
Last year, the prison chaplain program was said to cost about $6.4 million, $1.3 million of which covered part-time — including minority faith — chaplains. It’s not clear how much the new delivery model is expected to save.
Original Article
Source: life.nationalpost.com
Author: Tobi Cohen
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