The Westerner for March 12, 2012

Posted by Brian F. Thompson 
on Mar 13, 2012
 
Meeting: Chair - Sherry;  Music - Jerome;  Grace - Don

Attendance / Guests:  31, including Jan Fox, Rotary Club of Edmonton and Kevin Hilgers (DGE), Rotary Club of Grande Prairie.

Announcements:
  • Please consider attending the ABC's for Belize fundraising dinner and silent auction sponsored by the Centennial Interact Club.  Our Club has a table, and 5 seats are still available at $50.00 each.  These kids do good work and they deserve our support.
  • President Sherry asked Board of Directors members to stay behind for a short meeting at the conclusion of today's meeting.
  • Another Rotary function which needs supporters is the Integrity Awards Dinner on April 25th.  Please see Kieran for tickets. $45.00 each.
  • 50 / 50 Draw - Bob Lamoureux and Bill Buckham did not match cards.
  • Finemaster Ron Hutchinson stuck to a sports theme, but he sure came up with many difficult questions to succeed in collecting $2 from most of those present.
  • District Governor Elect Kevin Hilgers encourages all Rotarians in District 5370 to attend his District Conference in Grande Prairie next September 20th.  He has established what he calls a "Rookie Rate" of only $250 to register if you have never before been to a District Conference.  If you are a member of Edmonton West, the Club will pick up the cost of your registration fees, so that is an even better deal!  For information, go to kevsconference.com 
REACH EDMONTON

Kieran Leblanc introduced Rotarian Jan Fox, Executive Director of REACH EDMONTON to tell us about this relatively new organization.  Jan spoke to our Club several years ago when she was the Warden of the Edmonton Women's Prison.  She worked in various positions with Corrections Canada for 30 years.

Jan joked about her time prior to and during construction of the womens prison when there was much opposition to building it at it's location in west Edmonton.  She said we have all heard of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard), but there are some people who subscribe to BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone).

REACH EDMONTON is a Not-For- Profit community-based organization with a focus on crime prevention initiatives.  The goal of this organization is to make Edmonton a safer place.  Reach Edmonton is funded primarily by the City of Edmonton with help from the other levels of government.  It is unique in Canada and is being watched by many other communities.

Jan talked about a book by criminologist Dr. Irvin Waller titled "Less Law More Order".  The cost of crime in Canada is over 70 billion dollars per year.  Jan is not in favour of the current federal government initiatives (Crime Bill) to get tough on crime and put more people in jail and to take discretion away from judges.  She claims that a $1 investment in crime prevention results in a $20 saving in incarceration costs.

Reach Edmonton was formed as a result of a study of the root causes of crime in Edmonton by a Taskforce on Community Safety.  The taskforce consulted with more than 45 community groups including front-line workers, the business community, at-risk and high-risk youth, aboriginals, immigrants, refugees, families, the public sector, and both victims and perpetrators of crimes.  The Reach Report (Building a Culture of Community Safety in Edmonton in One Generation) made 9 recommendations which have been unanimously adopted by City Council.  The recommendations include the following:
  • School As Hub - In selected communities, the local school is being used for many family based programs, which are designed to draw the parents into the school and to get involved in positive activities.
  • 24-7 Program - Support services are being made available to those vulnerable people who need them at all times of the day or night.  Police have contact persons and numbers for the appropriate support agencies, and they have committed to provision of the required services.
  • Co-ordinating Council - REACH EDMONTON is now responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Reach report by coordinating the good work on community safety already being done by agencies and organizations.
  • Cultural Community Groups - Many of these groups are members of Reach Edmonton, and they are now actively engaged in community safety initiatives.
  • Sustainable Strategy - By building on the successes of the member organizations, their best practices and partnerships, many safety issues can be anticipated and prevented.
  • Empirical-based Research - The actions and changes are based on evidence, plus they are measurable and prevention-focused.
REACH Edmonton has become the catalyst for community discussion and initiatives which will make Edmonton safer.  They are acting to get tough on the root causes of crime.  Jan mentioned that they have been working collaboratively with the City of Grande Prairie.

Jan was thanked by Past President (and founder of Clean Scene) Mike Ryan, who acknowledged that his organization should be working with REACH Edmonton to help out in the drug awareness education area.