Tim and Doug are both lifers, having been sentenced to life in a Canadian criminal court, and are both now facing challenges on the outside after prison, both living at Kirkpatrick House in Ottawa, and both are now doing well. Tim committed his crime when he was just a juvenile and spent the first two years in youth custody before being transferred to an adult facility. Doug is an Indigenous man who has already served 34 years of his life-sentence both on the inside and out, and that has included trips back to prison for various breaches. Now, Tim stays busy, all the time, with a combination of work and school. Doug does enjoy his employment, but he prefers to fill the rest of his time with friends, cultural activities, and fishing. No two stories are the same and in this episode we look at the different paths two men took to wind up in the same place, and how they continue to pursue a life on the outside.
This episode highlights both the opportunities and challenges for lifers coming into communities and raises some important issues:
a. how important are halfway house placements providing stable housing, support and supervision in easing the difficulties of returning to communities?
b. why was the progress of a prisoner in the youth correctional system not taken into account when he aged into the adult correctional system and placed in maximum security?
c. what are the implications of individual parole officers having such a role in the speed lifers move into communities and whether they stay in there?
d. why do minimum institutions within the same regions have such different requirements before being supported for parole?
Noted positive acknowledgement of Boston Pizza, Kingston Police, parole officer at Frontenac Institution and other parole officers for their dealings with these men.