We consider it the responsibility of all of us to refuse to collude. In Canada, increasing numbers of professionals and academics are recognizing the need to challenge corrections. Unfortunately, too many who are contracted by corrections or whose research feeds or depends upon access to the prisons are actually willing to step up to the plate. As more have been reticent to be the handmaidens of our correctional systems, Canada has gone looking for some of you. Canadian correctional authorities are grasping for assistance in the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere. Some of you are being hired to participate in our system, absent the involvement of women with the lived experience, their allies and advocates, or even academics with recognized expertise in our own country. The resulting programs, investigative services, research and pseudo-evaluations of human rights abuses and discrimination are being undertaken with inadequate appreciation of the legislative scope or history of resistance that sparks our bureaucrats to seek new uninformed international contacts to buttress their crumbling castle of rhetoric in ever more feeble attempts to undermine the mounting case against the continued use of imprisonment for women in Canada.

But, you might well ask, is Canada not the best in the world, as our million dollar promotional campaigns broadcast internationally? Perhaps, but if so, then we should all be quick to recognize this as an indictment of the height of the proverbial bar …

What, you might also ask, would we suggest in the alternative? Rather than slavish adherence to the current “program and imprisonment approaches”, our Canadian and international equalityseeking partners favour more individualized and self-directed approaches, whereby resources are allocated in direct proportion and relation to the needs identified by federally sentenced women and corrections.

Such a model would more likely increase the investment of imprisoned women themselves in the services with which they engage, as they would be directing the application of resources to assist themselves. It would also be likely to improve the records of respective correctional services in terms of human and fiscal reintegration success, a reality that would no doubt be of interest to those in prison, the keepers of the keys and the general public alike. At the very least, resources would be much better spent if they were allocated according to the constellation of needs that are assessed or determined to exist for each woman, so that each woman may develop and avail herself of the very individualized practical services and supports which she desires and requires in order to successfully integrate into her community of choice.

Particularly in light of the tremendous benefit experienced from the rich exchange occasioned by the involvement of women’s equality seeking, Aboriginal and social justice groups, including women with the lived experience of imprisonment, in our coalition work around the human rights review that resulted in the January 28, 2004 release of by the Canadian Human Rights Commission of a report entitled, Protecting their Rights: A Systemic Review of Human rights in Correctional Services for Federally Sentenced Women, CAEFS must continue to promote their full involvement in all future policy and program development activities. In keeping with our commitment to anti-oppressive and substantive equality approaches, we obtained resources for and privileged the voices of those with the lived experiences. This led to significant procedural and substantive changes. Those of you interested in purchasing the resulting MP3 can see me after this session or access some of the material via our web site. Suffice it to say that the impact on our organization has been profound and it has strengthened our partnerships and our abilities to work collaboratively, combining incredible enthusiasm, energy and very limited resources.