Club Secretary and President-Elect Rhoda Wilson introduced Sylvie Blanchet as our speaker on May 6, 2019. Sylvie is the Executive Vice-Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada (PBC). Sylvie was appointed to the position in January 2018 for a five-year term. Before her appointment, Sylvie worked as a Parole Officer and Assistant Warden in New Brunswick penitentiaries. From 2015 to 2017, Sylvie was the Regional Director General for the Atlantic Region Parole Board...
The PBC is an independent administrative tribunal under Public Safety Canada. The Board has exclusive authority under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to grant, deny, and revoke parole for offenders serving sentences of two years or more. The PBC has several responsibilities, including recommending pardons and determining suitability for parole. A fascinating statistic is that released offenders with support services are far less likely to offend than offenders who serve their entire sentence in prison. Integrating offenders back into society with support is productive for the offender and society. Some individuals seeking a pardon feel they need to hire a third party to negotiate; however, an offender can deal directly with the PBC.
There are both part-time and full-time positions on the PBC. Positions are announced in The Canada Gazette. Anyone can apply. For a time the PBC was not permitted to speak in public about the program but these doors have opened again. The Rotary Club of Sussex was their first speaking engagement.