Wayne Buller’s journey to the North
After 26 years with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in Ontario, Wayne Buller was ready for a new chapter. He headed north to take on the role of warden in Iqaluit, supporting Nunavut’s newly rebuilt Aaqqigiarvik Correctional Healing Facility, which opened in 2021.
Soon after the move to Iqaluit, Wayne quickly came to realize the extent of anxiety some federally sentenced Inuit had about serving their sentences in the South.
“I saw fear in their eyes. They had never been out of the North,” he said. “Maybe once or twice to Ottawa for healthcare—maybe some never at all. Maybe some, Iqaluit was the biggest spot they had ever been to.”
Seeing this first-hand, Wayne knew he needed to keep working to help more federally sentenced Inuit serve their sentences in the North, if they chose to.
In Canada, offenders serving sentences of less than two years fall under provincial or territorial jurisdiction. In the North, however, CSC may work directly with territorial governments to oversee the supervision and rehabilitation of some federally sentenced offenders—those serving more than two years—while retaining jurisdiction.
While working in the North, Wayne became familiar with many of the everyday challenges people face in remote areas.
Wayne and CSC reviewed the cases of all federally sentenced Inuit offenders serving sentences under four years in federal institutions in southern Ontario. In collaboration with the Nunavut Department of Justice, they identified those who would be good candidates to serve their sentence in Iqaluit, if interested.
Working with Kevin Snedden, then Regional Deputy Commissioner (RDC) for Ontario, Wayne and his team developed a presentation and an information package for staff and offenders alike to raise awareness of the project in the South.
Wayne says providing the opportunity for federally sentenced Inuit to return to Iqaluit sooner in their sentence can help better rehabilitate offenders as they do not need to integrate into a culture that, for many of them, they do not plan on continuing to interact with upon their release and return to the North.
The differences, Wayne says, are stark. Food, environment, language and more, are vastly different between Nunavut and Ontario, creating additional challenges to an already difficult situation.
“It would be like somebody being arrested and convicted in Ontario and being sent to Japan to serve their sentence,” he said.
While in Nunavut, Wayne was an employee of the territory’s Department of Justice. However, he received support from, and kept in close contact with CSC, allowing both organizations to share best practices and learn from one another.
Having spent nearly three decades employed with CSC, Wayne was aware of the continued overrepresentation of Indigenous People in Canadian prisons. Still, his experiences working in a territory where over 85% of the population identifies as Indigenous deepened his understanding. Here, the importance of Elders became even clearer to him as he witnessed the crucial work they do with offenders every day.
Wayne’s time in the North led to some unexpected connections, including gifting a stone owl to its late carver’s son.
Wayne also made connections in the community, helping him better understand the realities of living in the North. One such connection proved to be especially impactful to him and his family.
In the 1970s, Wayne’s father-in-law ran a business in Frobisher Bay, now known as Iqaluit. He often accepted carvings from local residents in lieu of payment and brought several of them home. Years later, while Wayne was working in Iqaluit, his mother-in-law moved into a nursing home and the family sent Wayne pictures of the carvings to see if they could identify any of them.
Sure enough, Wayne showed the pictures to a friend he had made in Iqaluit and discovered that his friend’s father had created a carving of an owl which he had given to Wayne’s father-in-law.
“My heart just kind of exploded and we both became emotional,” Wayne recalls.
Wayne and his family were then able to bring the 18-inch carving up to Iqaluit to return to his friend, giving him a memento from his father, who had passed away 20 years earlier.
“I don't know what you want to call it, if it was something that was meant to be. Having a friendship that developed, then realising a connection some 50 years prior with two generations,” Wayne said.
“It has been the most powerful experience in my life.”
While Wayne looks back on his time in the North fondly, he recognizes it is not for everyone. Just as coming from the North can be a jarring experience, going North can be a shock as well. Still, he says it was a tremendous experience for himself, and everyone involved.
“At first, I thought (the community) was not going to be very receptive and be very cold because another white man is coming up and telling them or showing them what to do,” he says. “But I got the total reverse from that. If you’re willing to be up there and go up there to help, they’ll welcome you with open arms.”
Despite having to adapt to many new challenges, Wayne says working in the North can be an incredibly rewarding experience – so long as you don’t mind the cold.