Michel, a bit of a miracle

A bit of a miracle

Michel
Offender

The person you are talking to now, you wouldn't have been able to talk to before. It's not possible.

The thing about prison is, you're not going to change until you change. That's it. You can stay here 100 years, until that moment in your time where you decide, "Hey, this is my day.”

My name is Michel. My native name is “Mahihkan”, which is Wolf.

My journey is a bit of a miracle because, I came from a very troubled past and a lot of violence in prison and stuff. If I could go back today and talk to that guy, he probably wouldn't listen to me.

The program that actually changed my life was the VPP (Violence Prevention Program). That program just came to my life at the right time. In the right moment, I was in the right spot.

I go out to the street every day and I work at the apple orchard. I'm on work release, I've been doing that for a year. In my free time, I carve, obviously.

The path that I'm on now, drug-free, positive things in my life, my family, really is a miracle.

Because guys like me aren't supposed to be sitting here talking to you about how CSC (Correctional Service Canada) lifted me up, because they did.

It took longer for me, and it cost me everything.

If you're Indigenous, and there's no Native liaison and no Elders or services, then  the chances of you doing well are not going to be that great. I lost my 8 year-old son to cancer. But in that moment, if I wouldn't have had that Elder for that blanket ceremony, they are there for me, and without them, I wouldn't be where I am right now. To stress that my son's death changed my life is ridiculously a stupid statement. But the truth is, it was almost like the Creator touched my shoulder and said ”take all these bad things away from my dad” because after that moment, it put me right on a path to where I am now.

I started carving when I was young. For me, this is probably the most important thing I do in here, because this keeps me drug-free, keeps me off the radar, keeps me motivated.

If I look at an antler, I keep looking at it, and I'll put it down and I'll pick it back up and I'll keep looking at it. But once I see what it is, and what it wants to be, then I just remove everything else and it's there. Without this, I think without this in my life, some people say it's a gift. I don't see it like that.

For me, this is my medicine. And it's probably the best medicine I ever had. It keeps me grounded, focused and straight and true. That's really what everybody wants, and me. So as long as I have this in my life, I can't go wrong.

Changing Lives.
Protecting Canadians.