Sask. non-profit wants to help people leave their criminal convictions behind

Angel Genereux says she had no choice but to steal. She was struggling with money and she had a young child at home. 

The desperate act was done to put food on the table and help pay the bills, she said. But she got caught. 

She was criminally charged for the theft and then found guilty in court. 

Genereux said her criminal record haunted her for decades, holding her back as she wanted to pursue volunteer and job opportunities. It wasn't until she neared the end of her university program in the 2010s that she successfully applied to have her criminal record suspended. 

Now, she's helping others do the same. 

"If someone goes 10 years without committing any more crimes, are they really, truly a criminal? I don't think so. They're just somebody who made a bad decision, made a mistake or maybe — out of desperation like I was — did what they could to support their children," said Genereux, who is a caseworker with the John Howard Society of Saskatchewan (JHSS.)

Last week, the non-profit announced its new province-wide record suspension program. The program will connect caseworkers like Genereux with people who want a criminal conviction suspended through the Parole Board of Canada. 

​A record suspension does not erase a person's conviction; rather, it stops that information from being shared. It doesn't affect restraining orders or gun restrictions. People who commit sex crimes against minors or several other serious crimes over a short period of time are not eligible. 

Genereux said people who are eligible can't apply until a certain amount of time has passed after they've finished serving their sentence: five years for less serious offences, 10 years for the more serious crimes. 

Getting rid of stigma

The application process is lengthy, expensive and complicated to navigate, so the goal of the new program is to help people get through it.  

"This is something that Saskatchewan needs, because having a criminal record can be a barrier to so many things," Genereux said. 

It can prevent people from accessing rental housing, jobs, educational opportunities and volunteer gigs, even if the crime happened years ago. 

"We need to do our part to help people get rid of that stigma." 

Kristen Thoms said convictions that date back years are holding back people who are trying to build up their lives, and means employers are missing out on qualified candidates.

Thoms is the executive director with Quint Development Corporation in Saskatoon's core. The non-profit is a community economic development organization focused on affordable housing, social enterprise and employment programming.

Its programs support people trying to find jobs or who want to access education and training opportunities. One of the programs is run as a business. It's a residential construction company that employs people who struggle to find work in the construction industry — often because of their criminal record. 

Within the last few months, Thoms can count at least four job seekers who found employment, only to be let go days later when their employer learned of the criminal record. 

One person's conviction was more than 20 years ago, she said. 

Thoms said people lose hope and confidence that they will ever find meaningful employment when they are held back by decisions made in the past. 

"I think having a record suspended would boost that confidence and help people say, 'I can move on from something that happened maybe years ago and get this meaningful job.' "