By Ryan Pilon

Change of command at Willow Cree Healing Lodge

Feb 10, 2011 | 3:40 PM

Trent Mitchell is the new executive director at the Willow Cree Healing Lodge.

A change of command ceremony on Thursday morning saw the outgoing executive director, Lawrence Burnouf, relinquish his command to Mitchell, who began his current duties on Nov. 30, 2009.

Mitchell said he has some big shoes to fill, but believes he is up to the task.

“What I bring to this position is a form of leadership that is reflective of the community, respectful of local traditions and different ideas… my leadership style is more of an engager, to help people work together to achieve what we have to achieve,” said Mitchell.

“My main mandate here is to help guide the staff and to work with the community to provide an environment where… the men who come here, who are serving federal sentences, to help them to rehabilitate, heal and reintegrate into the community.”

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The Willow Cree Healing Lodge is a 40-bed minimum-security facility located on the Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation that provides a culturally-sensitive environment for aboriginal offenders.

“Elders are essential to everything that is done at a healing lodge… they’re essential to everything we do here” said Mitchell. “We have Aboriginal programs delivered by Aboriginal people. We find that the people who are incarcerated and come here, they respond better to those interventions.”

Those incarcerated certainly aren’t treated like prisoners, Mitchell said the staff at Willow Cree doesn’t refer to the offenders as inmates. Rather, they call them “Nicisanak,” meaning relative.

rpilon@panow.com