Send a Letter to Minister Mendicino to Fix The Inequality Created by Privatizing Prison Chaplaincy

Religious minorities in our federal prisons are suffering needlessly because they are not getting the spiritual and chaplaincy services they need.

The problem started in 2013, when the then Harper administration privatized the federal prison chaplaincy system by eliminating all 49 part-time chaplains and handing over all responsibilities to a for-profit company.

Those eliminated positions represented many chaplains serving minority faith prisoners who feel like their needs have been increasingly marginalized in the following years. Our new report, co-presented with the Islamic Family & Social Services Association— »A Review of Privatized Prison Chaplaincy Services »— details how entrenched the problem has become.

Chaplains working under the single company that administers all federal prison chaplaincy services, Bridges of Canada, have had their payable hours and resources progressively cut. Prisoners who identify with minority faiths have had to bear a disproportionate share of the results, with some even noticing that their religiously permissible meals are of lesser quality.

These issues amount to a situation of systemic and often racial inequality. We must have real change.

You can read the full report by NCCM and IFSSA here.

We need you to do two things:

1. Send a letter calling on the Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, to demand a change in the way prison chaplaincy is run

2. Share this letter writing campaign with your friends and family. We can no longer stay silent, we need to see action now.