Opening/Chair: Adam Harris was Chair today and he asked Kevin to lead the group in the singing of O Canada. This was followed by a moment of personal reflection.
Visitors/Guests: There were a number of visitors and guests today:
Kyle Andrews was the guest of Jim Harman today
Lindsay Lamb was making another visit to the club
Kathryn McGowan was the guest of her daughter Joanna
Joanne Thibeau - Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Truro and Colchester, was a guest of Ken Maclean
Our speaker was Claude Demers
Speaker: Claude Demers currently works at Nova Institution in Truro where he is the acting Warden. Claude recently arrived to Nova Scotia after working in the Pacific Region for 27 years. Claude has worked in all levels of security with the Correctional Service Canada starting as a Correctional Officer. He has been a manager in the Public Service since 1994. Two highlights of his career included being selected in 2001 to be a part of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and in 2009 was awarded the Public Service Award of Excellence.
Claude explained how Corrections Canada works and in particular how the Nova Institution in Truro functions. The corrections system is tasked with acting on the rulings of the justice system by placing people found guilty by the courts into custody. He encouraged us to forget everything we had seen on TV about life in prisons in the US. It was very different here.
Nova Institution for Women is a multi-level facility located in Truro, that is one of six federal facilities for women across Canada. Located in Lower Truro, it's a women’s multi-level design facility. In addition to maximum security section that holds about 14, there are residential-style small group accommodation with houses for minimum and medium-security inmates in an open campus design model. There are no physical separations between the inmates who reside in these units; they utilize the main institution for Socialization, Spirituality, Interventions, Health and Recreation facilities in a fully integrated manner. Currently the facility has 79 inmates but has capacity for 99.
Claude described life in the institution. It is a community onto itself with various trades and professions including counselling, religion and health. The largest number of staff are assigned to security. 75% of staff are female for obvious reasons, however he stated it is hard to recruit women into the field.
Upon conviction, depending on the crime and sentence, people will enter either the federal or provincial corrections system. If sentences are over two years in length, the person enters the Federal system which is setup with programs to deal with the longer sentence length. 15% of the inmates at Nova are serving life sentences which means that are not eligible for parole for at least 25 years. Even if they are released, they are not free of the system having to check with a parole officers at least once a month and live with other restrictions.
The first priority on intake into the facility is to learn as much about the person as possible so that they can get the help they need. 30% of the woman at Nova are First Nations. There are programs to deal with the cultural requirements of that group including having a First Nations elder available for them.
There is always an attempt to help inmates integrate into the larger society and Claude urged business owner or those hiring to consider the opportunity to utilize someone from the facility who is taking the skills training program. For periods of less than 60 days, the institution will pay for their placement. There is a range of skills available.
The Rotary Club has a unique linkage with the Nova Institution. Rotarian Kevin Quinlan is chair of the Citizen Advisory Committee and Brian Matthews is also a member of that group.
Brian Matthews thanked Claude on behalf of the club.
Member Health: No report.
Announcements and Reports:
Lech announced that Matt was taking over as chair of the Yearbook committee and he presented him with a special Yearbook pin for the occasion.
They reported that they had hoped to be able to start the process for next year's yearbook but had been delayed getting the lists ready. They asked that people review the list when available, add new business and remove those that we know have stopped.
Matt planned to get a start on solicitation beginning next week. This is the club's number one fundraiser and we all need to put special effort into it.
Program Chair Kevin Quinlan circulated a list of meeting dates from the end of June until fall for which he needs chairs and speakers. He asked people to get in touch with him to volunteer for the chair duties as well as help come up with names of potential speakers. He would make the contacts. Kevin would like to have this done before he go to the cottage in NL for the summer.
President's Report: No report but everyone was reminded that the May Directors's meeting was Tuesday evening (May 7th) at the Wesleyan Church,38 Pleasant St, Truro, NS B2N 3R7. Start time is 7:00 pm. Everyone welcome.
Happy Mug: There was a more that usual number of Happy Rotarians today:
Barbara was happy to have found someone to step in to take on the task of organization of the annual RYLA event. She thanked Laurie Sandeson for taking this on on short notice. She also thanked Laurie for helping find a replacement for one of the students who had cancelled out on the District Conference this week in New Glasgow.
Ed MacDonald was happy that his daughter was not only named Outstanding Alumni by Mount Allison University but announced she was going to have a baby on October.
Jim Harman was happy to have had a successful opening of the new Arts Center in Maitland, that he had been able to finish a water feature in his garden that he had started last fall AND that he was now going to be working at the area's oldest general store in Maitland this summer.
Brian was happy that Golf had started in Truro. He has also collected money from his dinner for the End Polio Now campaign.
Matt Redmond was happy that hie 4 week old daughter was doing well. Future Rotarian.
Larry Beazley was happy to have a new 5 week old grandchild.
Joanna was happy for visits from family from all parts of the globe.
Jim Gould was happy that Gloria was getting better. She has has the real flu.
50/50: Jim Harman had the lucky ticket and even more luck when he found the joker and when home $48 richer.
The Rotary Club of Truro Charitable Trust made a $25,000 donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Truro and Colchester to help with the purchase of a new van. A cheque was presented to Joanne Thibeau , Director of the organization at the Club's May 6th Meeting. Pictured flanking her after the presentation are Directors of the Trust, Rotarians Ed MacDonald, Laurie Sandeson, Ken Maclean and Ken MacDonald.
Rotarians Audrie-Jo McConkey and Esther Bejarano with their family and three Rotactors were paired with Scouts to plant trees at the old town dump site. It was a cold and damp day but the group still managed to plant over 1000 trees that will grow into a forest and help in the fight against runaway climate change.
What? A one-day leadership training program for high school students; this year's theme is "Looking After Your Planet Earth"; there will be interactive, solution-finding group activities, a panel on environmental stewardship in Colchester County, ecological footprint exercise, creative session including environmental-themed songs and paintings, and a video featuring a high profile environmental challenge.
Students can apply for two $500 bursaries - application to apply for the conference and the bursaries is May 24th. Information is available at local high school Student Services.
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