Serge LeClerc, BA (Hon) Sociology/Social Work, has been on an amazing journey in his life – a journey that is chronicled in his book, “Untwisted: An Extraordinary Journey of Overcoming and Redemption”. The book details his transformational personal experiences as a product of rape born in an abandoned building to a teenage girl, moving from a poverty-stricken inner-city youth to a young offender, a runaway street kid, a gang leader and a drug king-pin who served a total of 21 years in some of Canada's toughest prisons while battling a twenty-year drug addiction, to his remarkable overcoming and present citizenship.
Serge received a precedent setting Canadian National Pardon in the year 2000 due to his exemplary work for youth, their families, and their communities both in Canada and abroad. This Pardon, enforced by an Act of Legislation, honours his outstanding life change, present citizenship, and legally exonerates him from all past criminal convictions and social stigma. He is honoured to be an Associate Member of all of the Crime Stoppers Chapters of Saskatchewan.
Serge initiated his university studies in Sociology and Social Work while still in prison, beginning from the unenviable position of a formal education that consisted of nothing more than Grade Five. While on parole, Serge attended the University of Waterloo as a full-time student and graduated on the Dean’s Honour Roll for Outstanding Achievement, and an acknowledge expert in penology and corrections; crime, gang and societal issues within the culture of poverty, poly substance abuse and addiction, and the reality facing modern day youth and their families.
Serge has also spent a considerable part of his career speaking about his life experiences. He is a dynamic motivational keynote and expert speaker and has spoken to more than 3,000,000 people across Canada and the United States. Serge has shared his story with a wide variety of audiences including, young people, parents, police services, educators, mental health professionals, community leaders. He has spoken to university lectures, professional development seminars, school assemblies, church services and youth rallies.
Serge was first elected as the MLA for Saskatoon Northwest in the 2007 provincial election. He is one of very few individuals elected to any government in North America after serving time in prison. Following the formation of a Saskatchewan Party government, Premier Brad Wall asked Serge to serve as Legislative Secretary to the Minister of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing, Corrections Facilities Initiative.
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