Some are lobbying to make parole harder. Here’s why that would harm our communities.

This open letter was sent to Minister of Public Safety Canada Gary Anandasangaree and Minister of Justice Sean Fraser.

Dear Ministers,

Greetings from Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC), the peace and social justice agency of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Canada. We are writing to you today with deep apprehensions about calls for parole reform coming from various police sectors and to convey our concern regarding the broad trend of recent legislative changes that are moving Canadian criminal and prison law into harsher practices.

You may already be aware that, as explained by the Correctional Service of Canada’s corporate information, it was Quakers in Philadelphia who introduced the framework for the penitentiary system as we know it today. It was developed in the hope of reforming a system that was deeply harmful to people. As a faith community that was used to silence, and found solace in it, Quakers saw giving people time to reflect in solitude as far better than dungeons, execution, or physical torture. It is a legacy through experience that makes Quakers active in prison reform and abolition movements today.

Quakers have long believed people can change and rehabilitate. They have campaigned for prisoner education and job training, improved prison conditions, and parole systems—viewing these as both humane and conducive to reform. In Canada, Quakers continue to participate in the Alternative to Violence Project (AVP), an interactive methodology that helps to build multiple skills among those who are incarcerated and has shown promising results in reducing recidivism (https://avp.international/literature). CFSC promotes responses to crime that actively prevent harm, repair harm, and move beyond harm. We do this in ways that balance the needs of all parties and are concerned for society as a whole.

Read our pamphlet on parole (PDF).

As such, when it was brought to our attention that in July two police associations called on the government to make changes to existing parole law in Canada, we became concerned. The Canadian parole system is already profoundly punitive, creating an uphill battle for people who are working hard to gain release and rebuild their lives post-incarceration.

The Canadian Police Association has asked the government to apply to parole the same approach that it used for bail and sentencing reform. That approach produced Bill C-14, a bill which reformed more than eighty clauses across four statutes, and included sentencing changes, restrictions on conditional sentences, and amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

We join a growing number of people in Canada who are deeply concerned that Parliament’s agenda is being set to the specifications of certain lobby groups, on a timetable that leaves no room for scrutiny, and in the absence of any evidence that such supposedly “tough on crime” agendas work to keep us safe.

Download this open letter in PDF. Learn more about transformative justice.