Unshackled: wisdom from a formerly incarcerated Métis woman

Over the next year, we’ll be posting weekly videos of Lisa telling her story of incarceration, what prison life is really like, and the impacts that transformative justice and time in a Healing Lodge have had for her.

Take action

Learn more about why Canada needs transformative justice

• Articles from our newsletter Quaker Concern
• Flyers on: alternatives to prison, parole, and transforming the justice system (PDF)
• Reports from the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
• Resources from the John Howard Society of Canada

Get involved

• Become a pen pal with an person who is currently incarcerated (see our recorded webinar for more on why this matters)
• Volunteer with the Alternatives to Violence Project inside a jail or prison
• For those in Manitoba, volunteer with Open Circle to visit those who are incarcerated

Support transformative programs

There are many reasons why a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income would drastically reduce incarceration and make communities healthier, safer, and more vibrant. Learn more about this innovative approach and use our tools to ask your Member of Parliament where they stand on it.

Special thanks for the video series Unshackled: wisdom from a formerly incarcerated Métis woman:
Lisa Dawn Bowden
Aria Klassen (filming and editing)
Christine Fellows (intro and outro)
Daryl Neustaedter Barg and the Canadian Mennonite University Department of Marketing and Communications

Canadian Friends Service Committee is the national peace and social justice agency of Quakers in Canada. Since 1981 Quakers have supported the abolishment of prisons, recognizing that they are “as destructive to the cagers as to the caged.”