Commissioner's update for offenders and their families: May 12, 2025

Monday, May 12 is International Nurses Day and May 12 to 18 is National Nursing Week in Canada. Nurses are here to provide care, support, and professional advice to keep you healthy. They care about you and your health. This week, I encourage you to share your appreciation for our nurses. I also want to remind you that if you have any health questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Health Services team. They’re here to help.

I was pleased to hear that CORCAN at Saskatchewan Penitentiary recently got a sawmill to help inmates learn real life skills. As an initial project, three inmates built a small trapper’s cabin. They used timber from an Indigenous-owned business and milled it with the new sawmill. One of the participants said working on the mill taught him patience. If you work too quickly, you can damage the wood or the blade. But if you work too slowly, production slows down.

Even in -35°C weather, the finished cabin remained warm, thanks to proper insulation and a small heater. It took 250 hours to build the cabin. The finished product was bought by the Indigenous Initiatives Sector, and nine more cabins have been ordered. These will be used for Indigenous practices like drying medicines and hanging hides. Congratulations to everyone involved!

The success of this project has led to a new sawmill training program, which started 2025. This will help more inmates learn useful skills that may be useful in the job market. If you want to find out what employment and employability opportunities are available to you, speak with CORCAN staff at your institution.

 

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will. - Zig Ziglar