CONNECTIONS - Department of Justice

At River Ridge if you asked,“Where’s Vince?” the mostlikely answer any season of theyear is, “Gone fishing”. What?- getting paid to go fishing! Well,Vince Dikaitis certainly isn’tcomplaining about his role inthis program. His exuberance forfishing has spread to the inmates.But the program is not just anexcuse to get out of the facility,though it is a natural stressreliever.Vince demonstrates thatfishing expeditions provide anopportunity to build relationshipsand teach teamwork, fisherman’setiquette and skills. “Everyonecompletes their share of thepreparation and no one is allowedto start fishing until all the holesare drilled.” The fish are cleaned,skinned and filleted by the guysand then distributed to gratefulelders in the community. Oh, thefish tales that could be told – butthat’s another story…Anothernatural for ‘onthe-land’programming isCorrections Officer James (Toko)MacDonald’s Snowmobile SafetyCourse. Toko got his start as aninstructor through his auxiliaryservice with the Fort SmithRCMP. After he was certifiedas an instructor, he took hisexpertise one step further andbegan to train staff and inmatesat River Ridge. The programbegan with some classroomtheory and ended up with somepractical snowmobiling out atthe old Mission Farm. The onlycasualty was one of the staff,who injured his pride when hetipped over in some deep snowmaneuvers’.Withthe satisfactionthat comes from a successfulprogram completion, Toko couldsay, “Now there is one less thingto be concerned about when wego out on the land”.Many other staff participated inthese new programs in variousdegrees. Special tribute must begiven to Donna Bourque, whodiligently headed up the snaringprogram. It was a common sightto see an inmate walk in the doorwith a proud smile on his faceand a rabbit in his hand. Thenlater he would walk back out thedoor to put a cleaned rabbit intothe hand of a local elder – and asmile on his face.Well by now, you may havecome to the conclusion thatRiver Ridge is more of a resortthan a correctional facility.However, these ‘fun’ courses areintended to complement the moreserious programs that targetcriminogenic needs. They provideopportunities for inmates to enjoytraditional outdoor activities, learnfrom positive role models, andexercise social skills. They alsosupply incentive to participate inthe more hard-hitting programs.There is excitement in the airat River Ridge as its staff usesits wealth of knowledge andexperience. (River Ridge as aninstitution has undergone severaltransformations over its 30-yearhistory. Its staff has an average‘years of service’ of 14 years.)May 2006, Page 2