Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
MCC Canada National Program Department
Parallel form(s) of name
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Other form(s) of name
- MCC Canada Canadian Programs Department
- MCC Canada Peace and Development Department
- MCC Canada Peace and Justice Department
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1981 -
History
A National Program Department under MCC Canada was not officially established until 1981. Before this time, all Canadian domestic programs reported directly to the MCC Executive office. Early programs under MCC Canada began in the 1960s when responsibility for the Summer Service and Voluntary Service Programs already in Canada was transferred from the MCC office in the U.S. and a Peace and Social Concerns Committee was formed. Between 1974 and 1980, initiatives by MCC Canada to establish domestic programs included the development of a Native Concerns portfolio (1974), the Ottawa Office (1975), the Offender Ministries Program (1976), the first SALT program in Canada (1977), a position to oversee Development Education (1975), the Kanadier Committee (1975), early Refugee and Immigration initiatives (1979), and the establishment of a Handicap Concerns office (1980).
By 1981, the growing number of Canadian domestic programs had become too extensive for the Executive Office to administer. This led to the restructuring of MCC Canada’s Executive Office and the creation of three new senior coordinator positions: Personnel and Administrative Services Coordinator, Overseas Program Coordinator, and Canadian Programs Coordinator. In 1981, the first Canadian Programs Coordinator was hired and a Women’s Concerns portfolio, Service Education program, Canadian Mental Health program, Employment Concerns portfolio, and AIDS task group were added to the list of Canadian programs under the new Canadian Programs Department. By 1990, the Canadian Programs Department was comprised of eight main programs: Voluntary Service, Peace and Social Concerns, Native Concerns, Women’s Concerns, Mental Health Program, Victim Offender Ministries, Handicap Concerns, and Employment Concerns.
In 1996, after a decade-long period of rapid growth in domestic programs, a proposal for the reorganization of MCC Canada’s National Program Department was made. The structure and content of the Department were reconfigured, and the department was renamed twice; it was called the Peace and Development Department until 1998 and then the Peace and Justice Department until the early 2000’s. The department’s function during this time was to deliver domestic programming in three areas: The Peace Office, the Justice Program (consisting of Native Issues, Economic Justice, Restorative Justice, and Refugee Assistance programs), and the Constituency Program (consisting of the Mental Health and Disabilities program and Women’s Concerns network). During this period of restructuring, responsibility for MCC Canada's domestic programs was decentralized and began to shift over to the provincial MCC offices.
During the 2000’s, the department was referred to as the Canadian Programs Department or the National Program Department (predominant 2004-2009), sometimes interchangeably. Eastern Canada programs were added to the department and many of the existing Canadian programs were restructured, combined, renamed, or discontinued.
In 2012, MCC Canada's National Program Department was moved under the larger “MCC Program” umbrella. The National Program Department works to represent MCC at a national level, networks and resources the provincial MCC's to carry out Indigenous Neighbours, Migration and Resettlement, Restorative Justice, and Low-German programming, and continues to be responsible for the delivery of programs in Eastern Canada.
Places
MCC Canada Winnipeg Office; Eastern Canada.
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
The National Program Department is responsible for facilitating MCC Canada’s domestic programming within the country. Over time, the National Program Department has prioritized the delivery of programs in Eastern Canada while responsibility for delivering other domestic programs gradually shifted to the provincial MCC offices in other areas of the country. The department remains committed to resourcing domestic programming in Canada, frequently through collaboration with provincial MCC’s and the Program Networks. Its mandates are to resource, enable and coordinate activities within the MCCs in Canada, advocate on a national level, and lead in developing and encouraging new initiatives, where appropriate.
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
The National Program Department reported directly to MCC Canada’s Executive Office from 1981 until 2012. Since 2012, the National Program Department has reported to the MCC Canada Program Director.
The number of domestic programs under its jurisdiction has fluctuated throughout its history and programs have, at times, been divided into sub-groups, such as in 1997 with its three-fold division of Peace Office, Justice Programs, and Constituency Programs. In 2020, there were four National Programs: Indigenous Neighbours, Migration and Resettlement, Restorative Justice, and Low German Program.
General context
*A Note on Naming: Throughout its long history, the name of the department has changed several times and names have often been used interchangeably. There is no official chronology when it comes to which name was used for the department, but one can often come close.
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Draft
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Created by Jared Warkentin, March 24, 2020
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Sources
Epp-Tiessen, Esther. Mennonite Central Committee in Canada: A History. Winnipeg: CMU Press, 2013.