ARCHIVED - Speech for the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, to launch the updated Volunteer Screening Handbook And announce a National Training Project

Ottawa, Ontario
October 18, 2012

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Thank you, Ruth.

I'm joined today by my colleague, Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Orleans.

We're very pleased to be here with Volunteer Canada, which is making a real difference for millions of Canadians right across the country.

I'm also glad that we have Ms. Provost here today from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa – another great organization that is dedicated to helping our children and youth. 

We are grateful for to all of you for your ongoing dedication to helping others.  It's truly inspiring.

Of course, volunteers are the life blood of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa – along with thousands of other organizations across Canada, such as sports clubs, after-school programs, and seniors' care groups.

Volunteer Canada has been Canada's leading voice of volunteerism for 35 years – helping strengthen and build volunteer capacity across the country.

As you know, our government believes strongly in keeping Canadians safe and making our communities better places to live, work and raise our families. 

We have done this by strengthening our laws, giving victims of crime a stronger voice in our justice system, providing our police with the tools they need to do their jobs, and supporting crime prevention programs.

Last March, our Safe Streets and Communities Act brought in some significant changes to our criminal justice system, including ending record suspensions for violent and sexual offenders, and increasing penalties for those who commit sexual offences against children.

We also work closely with our partners at all levels of government, within law enforcement agencies, and national and community organizations to protect vulnerable individuals – many of whom rely heavily on volunteers for their physical, social and emotional needs.

One example of this is our close work with police agencies like the RCMP to ensure effective and efficient screening of volunteers.

To this end, we have supported the use of LiveScan technology that has been installed at many police departments across the country.

This technology allows police to submit fingerprints electronically to the RCMP, which is helping streamline vulnerable sector checks.

In this way, the RCMP is preventing offenders from hiding their criminal past so that Canadians are protected, while ensuring that honest, hard-working volunteers don't have to wait weeks to get accepted into positions in the Vulnerable Sector.

Today, we are here to do more to support organizations that engage and rely on volunteers.

First and foremost, I'm very proud to help launch an updated version of The Screening Handbook: Tools and Resources for the Voluntary Sector, which was developed by Volunteer Canada for Public Safety Canada.

The 2012 edition of The Screening Handbook builds on previously recommended screening practices, while responding to current trends in volunteering, shifts in public policy and changes in legislation.

It offers a wealth of knowledge, best practices and information for all organizations – big or small – that work with volunteers.

To encourage widespread use and understanding of the new Screening Handbook, I'm also pleased to announce that Public Safety Canada – following a public contracting process – has awarded a contract of $75,000 to Volunteer Canada to provide national training to volunteer agencies right across the country.

With its extensive reach and network of partners in the provinces and territories, Volunteer Canada is ideally positioned to help organizations build their capacity to screen volunteers and ensure that our most vulnerable are protected.

This training, combined with increased awareness and better screening techniques, will help create a strong, safe volunteer system that supports and protects our most vulnerable, particularly our seniors and children.

In closing, I would like to thank all of you here for the tremendous work you do every day. 

You are crucial partners in helping us keep our streets, our communities and our citizens safe. 

Thank you.

Date modified:

2015-11-20