Author of case study: Greg Labrosse

Geopolitical location of space:
1409 1st Avenue East
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Extant?
Yes

Architect:
Original architect unknown

Timeframe RJ/TJ process in this space:

Friendship Centres have been active in Saskatchewan since 1963 and since then the movement has grown within Saskatchewan to encompass 11 Friendship Centres that are part of the 125 member National Association of Friendship Centres.

Background information:

A Friendship Centre is a not-for-profit urban and rural Indigenous service delivery infrastructure that provides cultural-based Indigenous programs and services to an Indigenous population.

Friendship Centres offer programming in education and training, employment opportunities and counselling, health programs, children and youth programs, recreation programs and economic development. They also offer language training, skills development, computer training, work-site placements, nutrition programs, healing circles, alcohol and drug counselling, summer and winter camps, day care centres, youth peer counselling, youth drop-in centres, organised sports and leagues, wilderness training and facility rentals.

Is restorative  justice actually taking place in this site?

Yes. The service staff at the Prince Albert Indian and Métis Friendship Centre (PAIMFC) act as a liaison between offenders and the court, and offers a variety of holistic programs, such as Bringing Back Our Warriors, for men, which addresses violence, anger management, and domestic abuse, traditional counselling; and learning activities, such as the Kairos blanket exercise about Indigenous experience in Canada. The centre also hosts support circles, a weekly addictions day program, works with families of missing and murdered Indigenous people, and with survivors of the residential school system.

Is this space designed/arranged for safe listening?

The spaces where restorative justice takes place within the Centre have not been designed specifically for safe listening. They are multi-purpose rooms that are adapted according to the need.

Who is the audience/the intended participants for this space?

Although the Centre’s focus is on delivering services to the Indigenous community, it operates under a status-blind policy, which means anyone regardless of Indigenous status can make use of their services and programs.

Physical/factual description of space:

The Centre is housed in a three-storey concrete building in the heart of downtown Prince Albert. The Centre acquired and now owns the actual building from where it provides its services. It is responsible for the majority of its operating and maintenance costs (including power, utilities, and municipal taxes). It receives annual program funding from the Federal Government and the Provincial Government for the delivery of specific programs, initiatives, and services.

Analytical description of space:

The Centre has to fundraise in order to cover any costs that are not part of their initial core funding allowance. The fundraising, then enables them to provide additional services important to the community, such as healing circles, Pow-Wows, and blanket exercises.

The Centre has an Indigenous Elder who is part of the staff. The Elder serves to guide and mentor recently released inmates to help them re-acquaint themselves with traditional knowledge and culture, traditional healing, and to reconnect with their ancestral roots. The Elder also serves as a role model that can relate to the former inmates and can evaluate if the recipients of his guidance and mentorship are in fact ready to receive assistance and support.

The Centre is bound by the constraints of the funding programs that provide it with annual allocations, covering very specific expenses (not including janitorial services, renovations, or improvements). Likewise, because the Centre is a not-for-profit organisation, it has had to mobilise its own facility to deliver its services.

Additionally, as in the case of most NGOs, the provincial and federal government does not usually provide direct funding for the acquisition or restoration of the actual spaces in which NGOs deliver their programs.