Voices Inside and Out

Rick Sauvé: Part 1: From Prison to Living as a Lifer in the Community

Episode Summary

In Canada, a life-sentence does actually mean life. It might not all be spent behind bars but someone serving a life-sentence is never truly free. In 1978, Rick Sauvé was then a member of the Satan’s Choice MC who was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of a rival gang member, a conviction he contests. Rick has twice taken the battle for prisoner voting rights to the Supreme Court of Canada, and won both times before earning parole after serving 17 years of his life sentence under the now defunct “Faint Hope Clause”. For winning voting rights for prisoners and his work coaching other “lifers” he earned the Ed McIsaac Human Rights in Corrections Award, the first time a former prisoner had ever won the humanitarian award. In this episode, Rick talks about his own experience as a “lifer” and about the challenges and conditions that anyone serving a life-sentence faces, knowing full-well that a breach of any of those conditions could land them swiftly back in prison. In the next episode, we discuss the programs that Rick provides, designed to help lifers, inside and out, cope with the stresses of their lives.

Episode Notes

This episodes raises some significant policy questions:

• given that parole ineligibility periods are long in Canada and increasing with  back to back ineligibility periods, isn't the absence of some "faint hope clause" or some mechanism to override mandatory ineligibility periods cruel and unnecessary given that the person is under sentence for life regardless of where it is being served? See Senator Pate's Bill C-208 which proposes judicial discretion to reduce mandatory parole ineligibility periods?
• if a person has been  leading a positive and constructive life in the community for decades, shouldn't there be some relief from parole conditions and monitoring?
• shouldn't 'correctional plans' be adjusted to reflect that correctional objectives have been met and,  if not, that correctional objectives change as lifers age?

Learn more about Rick: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rick-sauves-prisoner-coaching-program-life-line-faces-potential-cancellation/article37337967/