Profile: Brenda LePage

Brenda LePage has enjoyed the diverse career opportunities that working for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has offered her over the last 25 years.

When Brenda was in university, she didn’t plan for a career with CSC. “I graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science. I applied for a job with CSC as a means to gain some experience in the criminal justice area (and to earn some much-needed tuition money!) prior to going on to law school,” says LePage. “Twenty-five years later, I am still learning and gaining experience, and I never did go back to law school.”

Brenda admits that her work with offenders is anything but easy, but she also knows that it is tremendously important. “By assisting offenders to address the issues and factors that brought them into conflict with the law and having them take responsibility for their actions and correct their mistakes, I am contributing to making our communities safer for all Canadians,” she says.

Brenda, the former warden of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, is now putting her knowledge and experience to good use as a member of CSC’s Transformation Team. This team is leading the response to the recommendations made by an independent review panel, appointed by the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, in April 2007.

This review panel produced a report that outlined 109 recommendations to strengthen federal corrections in Canada, which was subsequently endorsed by the Government of Canada in Budget 2008.

“My role focuses on advancing the recommendations pertaining to offender interventions such as programs, employment, skills training to improve employability, Aboriginal initiatives, education and mental health issues for offenders,” said LePage. “Establishing strong partnerships with volunteers, community-based agencies and citizens is crucial to advancing these recommendations.”

Making communities safer

Brenda is very excited about the opportunity to work on the Transformation Team. “My current assignment is all about the big picture. Every single CSC employee contributes in a significant way to achieving public safety results for Canadians. Although much of our work goes on quietly behind the scenes, we are making a significant contribution to helping make Canadian communities safer,” she explains.

“It is a very exciting opportunity for me to take my 25 years of experience as a front-line correctional employee and manager, and use it to help transform my organization,” she said.

Brenda says she has learned a lot from people she has met in her career with the Public Service, and she hopes that others have learned from her.

“At the end of my career, I hope that I am remembered by colleagues and friends not so much for what I did, but how I did it. I believe that if I can make a positive difference in a person’s life—whether they’re a staff member, an offender or a citizen—then my work has been worthwhile.”

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