COSA, or something like it, is badly needed

WEDNESDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — A federal program few of us have probably heard much about came up in Ottawa this week as MP Cathy McLeod answered questions put to her by Liberal MP Wayne Easter.

McLeod is Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and for Western Economic Diversification. The program is called Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA), and was established 20 years ago by the Mennonite Central Committee. It now has programs in most provinces, including B.C.

COSA is structured with groups of volunteers under professional supervision who provide support for sex offenders trying to reintegrate into the general population after being released from prison. It reportedly has a high success rate in preventing re-offences.

A few weeks ago, the federal government reduced its $2.2 million in funding by $560,000, a move that was to take effect the end of March. In September, it was to be eliminated entirely.

Then, on March 10, the Waterloo Region Record reported that Correctional Service Canada had changed its mind, agreeing to keep funding the program for the rest of a five-year contract that was signed with the group a year ago.

But this week, Easter questioned why COSA’s funding has been scheduled to run out next March. McLeod replied that Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney had told Correctional Service Canada to restore full funding but that the program will be evaluated.

This is rather confusing. Why funding should have been withdrawn in the first place is a good question. The program is designed to protect public safety and give convicted sex offenders a chance to stay out of trouble. It seems like a very good investment of tax dollars.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported recently that the National Crime Prevention Centre will complete a $7.5-million national evaluation of COSA in September, the same month in which funding was originally going to be eliminated before the feds had a change of heart. That’s the evaluation, no doubt, to which McLeod was referring.

This leaves COSA’s status a bit up in the air. Evaluating the success of federally funded programs is a good idea but if, in September, the Conservatives decide to scrap funding for COSA after all, they’d better have a plan for replacing it with a good alternative.