November 10, 2010

The Right Honorable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P

Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Re: Petition of Concern about Building New Prisons

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

At a public inter-faith gathering held on October 19, 2010 in Winnipeg, which heard a
presentation about restorative justice approaches to crime, justice and corrections in
Canada, a number of those attending signed the enclosed petition endorsing the letter
addressed to you by the Most Rev. Gary M. Gordon, Bishop Ponens of Prison Ministry
for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

We encourage your urgent attention and that of your government to this important matter
based upon the concerns that more prisons will not ensure public safety, that the building
of more prisons is an unjustified expense given the critical economic situation of the
government at this time, and that additional resources might best be directed to
restorative justice approaches to crime and public safety.

Most sincerely,

The Rev. Dr. Kenneth C. Kuhn

Retired Corrections Chaplain (Protestant)
515 Headmaster Row
Winnipeg, MB R2G 3W5

Enclosures: Letter and three page petition