But now she and other minority-faith chaplains contracted by the Correctional Service of Canada face an uncertain future after Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced that he is “not convinced” all chaplaincy services are an appropriate use of taxpayer money and ordered a stop to the tendering of new contracts until a review is complete.
Program supporters say stripping inmates of access to spiritual advisers would contravene their Charter rights and the correctional service’s own internal 200-page “Manual on Religious and Spiritual Accommodation.”
“If they choose to scrap this, they’re denying the rights of all of these people – their access to spiritual advisement of the religion of their choice,” Hansen told Postmedia News on Thursday, a few hours before she was to visit inmates at the Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford, B.C.
The correctional service currently contracts 170 full- and part-time chaplains across the country. The public safety minister’s office won’t say what services it may be targeting, but the announcement came in the same week that the correctional service solicited bids for several part-time chaplain positions to serve Buddhist, Wiccan, Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and Roman Catholic inmates in B.C.
Job descriptions varied depending on the religion, according to a “request for proposals” posted on a government contracting website. Wiccan chaplains, for instance, would be expected to work about 16 hours per month, while Muslim and Sikh chaplains would be expected to work about 57 hours per month. Some of the contracts were worth $25,000 to $50,000 while others were valued at between $100,000 and $250,000.
“Until the review is complete, no new contracts will proceed,” said Julie Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Toews.
The president of the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy that, for the past three decades, has advised the correctional service on the spiritual care of inmates and has encouraged participation of churches in correctional ministry, said Thursday that the presence of chaplains has a “calming effect” in prisons and helps to reduce recidivism.
“They effect change in individuals on a permanent basis. People grow. As they connect with their faith they are transformed,” said Monique Marchand of Kingston, Ont.
While acknowledging the government has to be careful with how it spends its money, Marchand said to cut any of the services currently offered would be unfortunate.
“The return on investment is amazing for very little money,” she said.
In the last fiscal year, 36 per cent of inmates identified themselves as Catholic, 18 per cent as Protestant, five per cent as Muslim, four per cent as native spiritual, two per cent as Buddhist, one per cent as Jewish and one per cent as Sikh. Twenty percent said they were non-religious, seven per cent said they belonged to “other” religious groups, and six per cent answered “unknown.”
According to a 200-page manual, the correctional service is obligated under federal laws and regulations to make reasonable accommodations of the religious and spiritual needs of inmates, including providing access to chaplaincy services, facilities for the expression of their religion or spirituality, and any special dietary requirements.
The manual notes that the Canadian Human Rights Commission has repeatedly ruled that, unless there is a potential security concern, corrections officials “should find ways to make accommodation possible.”
The manual spells out details of the specific traditions of various religions represented in the prison population and the different ways prison officials have accommodated inmates’ needs.
For instance, Muslim inmates “must” be allowed to keep a copy of the Qu’ran with them at all times and have access to a prayer mat.
A memorandum of understanding between the Wiccan community and Ontario’s Warkworth Institution allowed inmates to have candles in their cells under strict conditions.
Hansen, who gets paid $34.50 an hour for up to 16 hours a month, says she currently serves about 50 Wiccan inmates across B.C.
She describes a typical visit like this: She will gather them in an open circle and guide them in meditation. They will do exercises that help “balance ourselves mentally and spiritually.” They will discuss the seasons and symbols of nature and perform a number of ritual services, including the lighting of candles and the sharing of bread accompanied by prayerful chanting.
“I don’t teach people to cast hexes,” she said.
Hansen, whose current government contract expires at the end of September, says she was in the midst of preparing her renewal application when Toews announced the freeze on all new contracts.
She said she remains hopeful the minister will get passed the “political grandstanding” and see the value she and other chaplains bring.
“We want people to get out of jail and never go back.”
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Douglas Quan
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