New Pathway – Ukrainian News.
When she is at the Ukrainian National Federation Hall at 145 Evans Ave. in Etobicoke, which happens often, she is busy with the affairs of the Ukrainian Women’s Organization of Canada – Toronto Branch. She arranges and MCs their numerous events, holds General and Executive Meetings, assists with parceling humanitarian assistance bound for Ukraine and various local charities. She is UWOC-Toronto’s President Dianna Fedun. Dianna Fedun’s leadership of UWOC-Toronto’s plentiful activities deserves coverage, but there also is something in her background not known publicly and might explain why she is so charitable.
For 30 years, before she retired in 2015, Fedun worked as a Probation and Parole Officer with the Provincial Government in South Etobicoke. In her time, she worked with those who have been sentenced for crimes ranging from driving offences to thefts, domestic violence, sexual and drug offences. The “clients” she dealt with ranged from age 18 to over 85.
A Probation and Parole Officer invests a considerable amount of time and effort in their clients and directs them to various agencies for extra counseling or life skills training, assist in finding medical professionals and mental health advocates, as well as drug and addiction counselors. More than half of the people sentenced in the Provincial Judicial Court system never return. Fedun said that the system fulfils its role: “We try. We can only provide our clients with tools to assist them to better their lives. It is up to them if they wish to utilize them. Many of our clients require step-by-step instructions on how to proceed to reach a positive resolve. Some of these people would have no knowledge of how to begin and to get out of their situation.”
The correction system itself serves as a deterrent, said Fedun: “Having to find a lawyer, there are costs involved, and the financial cost is a big motivating factor for anybody not to go through that again. Having to miss work as you are required to attend court many times before the case could be heard. The fact that they might be strip-searched, they may have to be detained as they may not qualify for bail or have anyone to “put up bail” for them. They may lose their job, family and home. Some will lose their possessions if incarcerated.”
But sometimes it is hard to get through the correctional process and achieve positive results. Fedun recalled: “How do you tell a parent who has worked hard all their lives and have given their children all that they need, that their adult children are stealing from them. We saw many older ladies in this situation, who in turn go out stealing and getting themselves into trouble because they are upset but more so depressed at what their children are doing.”
The recidivists, said Fedun, are often people who have left home at an early age, have no job skills, limited education, and negative peer groups: “That’s what negative peer groups do – they need to make sure everybody else around them is as bad as them. It’s hard to tell this group of people ‘you can’t be associating with A, B and C.’ But hopefully it will eventually sink in and they will see what good friends are all about.”
Does crime in the GTA, where Fedun worked as a PPO, depend on the economic cycle? She does not believe so, as crime has several other factors, she said. First, in Toronto, the demographics has aged as many young people can’t afford to live here which has reduced the crime numbers: “The older you are, the smarter or mature you become, you’ve had it with all of that and you want a quiet life.” But crime has risen in the outlining areas, she said.
Are better-off people prone to crime? “You’d be surprised,’ said Fedun, “I have had many white-collar professionals – doctors, police, teachers – who were sentenced for sexual and domestic assaults, or drug and alcohol related offences. I’ve had cases of embezzlement, fraud and other white-collar offences. Crime runs across all the socio-economic groups and both genders. Yes, men commit more crime than women, but such crime segments as drugs and alcohol abuse see both sexes. Domestic violence is committed more by men given females will call police, but we’ve had women clients who have assaulted their male partners and were placed on probation.”
Is Canada fairly considered soft on crime? Fedun said: “I know that in the United States the judicial system could be seen harsher than up here in Toronto. In our system, there are minimal sentences for certain crimes, but the judicial system will consider offender-related factors before they are sentenced.”
Dianna Fedun believes that the degree of judicial mistakes is quite low in Ontario: “There have been those incarcerated and decades later found to be innocent. But our police forces in Ontario are very diligent in their investigation. They take their jobs very seriously and will do their due diligence before any arrest is made. As well, scientists have made considerable gains in forensic medicine and testing which has aided the police.”
In her 30 years on the job, said Fedun, she never had a time when she would not have someone of Ukrainian, Russian or Polish background as her clients given South Etobicoke has a large Eastern European population. Her Eastern European clients were sentenced for a variety of crimes but domestic violence and drinking and driving were dominant: attitudes to drinking and driving are seen as more lax in Eastern Europe. Fedun said: “We’re talking about those whose license has been suspended and they are still driving. They keep drinking while driving. When I saw a name cross my desk and it looked like it is either Ukrainian, Polish or Russian, I suspected it was either drinking and driving or domestic abuse.”
Why is there less gun-related crime in Canada than in the US? Fedun believes that gun control is the reason: “Why does a normal citizen need to have a gun? You have the police to protect you. Crime is generally lower in Canada as I believe we have more opportunities here. We have programs for young adults who drop out of school. We have a host of skilled laborer jobs opening up, given all the construction that is going on. Many of the labour unions are opening up schools to train people in the trades. That’s a plus for many clients in the community side of corrections – to be able to earn those types of skills and belong to a union. While, in the United States, they are killing the unions off.”
With this kind of experience and background on the part of their President, it’s no surprise that UWOC-Toronto helps so many Ukrainian and local charitable organizations and causes. Among them are Help Us Help the Children and the Dzherelo Centre in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre, the Women’s Habitat, Salvation Army, St. Margaret’s Out of the Cold Program, The Dorothy Ley Hospice and Daily Bread Food Bank to name a few. This November, UWOC-Toronto had their clothing drive for the town of Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast. With the 80-year history under their belt, UWOC-Toronto is as active as ever in preserving their cultural heritage, serving the Canadian communities and helping the land of their ancestors.
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