‘Get smart on crime’

When John Hutton sees a person convicted of murder or assault, as he regularly does, he does not see a “bad guy” to be feared or reviled. Instead, he sees the potential for change.

Hutton heads up the John Howard Society of Manitoba, an organization that provides programs and services—tools for change—to men in jail and men trying to reintegrate into society after their release.

Without negating the fact that many of the organization’s clients have seriously hurt people, Hutton says of the offenders, “I see people that have been damaged, have been victims themselves.”

In some cases, he also sees people who “have made very powerful changes in their lives. . . . When you talk to someone who has spent 10 years in jail for murder and spent 18 years out of jail” engaged in a successful career and actively involved in helping others make positive change, that’s “really exciting,” Hutton says.

He goes on to speak of a man who spent many years in prison for violent offences, but is now “leading an entirely different life with the support of a [Mennonite] church community.”

Hutton, who attends Hope Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, is much less excited about the changes he sees as a result of Bill C-10. Despite falling crime rates, the number of people in Manitoba jails has jumped by about 20 percent. The expense of building jail cells takes away from rehabilitation programs, he says.

In addition, Hutton says the aboriginal community has been hit particularly hard by the current crime agenda. Aboriginal offenders are more likely to get convicted and less likely to get parole, he says. They stay in jail longer.

According to Hutton, “prisons are turning into the new residential schools.” A recent report by the government-appointed correctional investigator states, “Aboriginal-specific legislative provisions are chronically under-funded, under-utilized and unevenly applied by the Correctional Service.”

Bill C-10 has also made it harder and far more costly to get a pardon. Instead of rewarding people who make positive change, Hutton says this move simply ensures that “the past continues to haunt” people for years, harming their employment and community involvement prospects, things vital to reintegration.

A request for an interview with a Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) spokesperson or Vic Toews, the minister of public safety, was declined, but an e-mail from the department states that Bill C-10, The Safe Streets and Communities Act, improves on previous laws by “enhancing information-sharing with victims, increasing offender responsibility and accountability, strengthening the management of offenders and their reintegration, and modernizing disciplinary actions.”

The e-mail adds that CSC “will continue to support and assist offenders towards rehabilitation.” Last year, the department spent $105 million of its $2.4-billion budget on programs related to rehabilitation and reintegration. That’s up from $55 million in 2007-08.

Hutton says Canada should “step away from the tough-on-crime approach,” and, instead, “get smart on crime.” Canada should “look at what works,” he says, something that has led to major changes in states such as Texas, where the focus has shifted from punishment to rehabilitation and treatment.

By isolating offenders and making them feel like they are not part of their community, they are “more likely to do harm in the future,” Hutton says.

Hutton believes that when Jesus said, “I was in prison and you visited me,” he was indicating that “somebody doesn’t stop being a member of our community just because they have broken a law.”

“We need another way,” Hutton says, adding that Mennonites have been “very good at quietly, professionally, competently finding those other ways.”