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Consultation Continues on Formation of a National Canadian Restorative Justice Organization

In January 2008, a Steering Committee began circulating a discussion paper to determine whether there is interest in forming a national restorative justice organization in Canada.

Creating Alternatives for Young Offenders in Toronto

An innovative diversion programme offers young offenders in the Greater Toronto area an opportunity to clear their records and contribute to the community. Called PACT (for participation, acknowledgement, commitment, and transformation), it partners with youth courts to provide a restorative justice and community service alternative in sentencing young offenders.

Calhoun, Avery. Calgary Community Conferencing- School component 1999-2000: A year in review.

Begun in 1998, Calgary Community Conferencing (CCC) consists of a joint initiative involving governmental and nongovernmental organizations. It take referrals from the youth justice system and the school system. This report focuses on CCC's work with schools in 1999-2000. Data presented include the following: the number of conferences conducted and participating schools; types of incidents and referral sources; response time with respect to the incident, referral, and conference; information on the participants; the direct services provided by conferencing staff to participants; restoration agreements; school consequences for young people who participated in conferences; incidents referred but not brought to conference; and characteristics of youth participants

Longclaws, L. and Barkwell, L and Galaway, Burt and Barkwell, L. Piloting Family Group Conferences for Young Aboriginal Offenders in Winnipeg, Canada

This paper reports on a pilot project using family group conferences for eight Aboriginal young offenders and their families in Winnipeg. With the cooperation of the probation service, the recommendations of the conferences were substituted for a predisposition report and were presented to the court as the recommended disposition. The results of the process are described, including initial meetings, venue and timing of FGCs, participants, and the conference process. The plans developed and the process of presenting them to court are described. The judges who sentenced in the cases largely ignored the recommendations from the FGCs. Implications are discussed.

Laprairie, Carol. Aboriginal Criminal Justice in Canada

A special issue of the journal is devoted to Aboriginal crime and justice, primarily in Canada which use Braithwaite's (1989) "Crime, Shame and Reintegration" as an explanatory framework. Articles include customary law among aboriginal groups in British Columbia; crime control in 3 Ontario Nishnawbe-Aski Nation communities; dominant and dominated cultures of native villages in Alaska; the role of police on 25 reserves in Quebec; homicide trends among Aboriginals and other Canadians; Aboriginal female suicides in custody; the dimensions of "owning" crime and disorder in the east James Bay Cree communities of Quebec; the juvenile court system in 22 Manitoba communities; factors influencing native policing arrangements; critiques the theory of invention of tradition, with the People of the Longhouse of the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation; the issue of community participation in socio-legal control within the Inuit of the Northwest Territories; and the characteristics of Aboriginal recidivist. Lastly, Scott Clark attempts to tie together the underlying themes of this special issue.

Immarigeon, Russ. Family Group Conferences in Canada and the United States: An Overview

This paper suggests possible uses of New Zealand style family group conferences in Canada and the United States. Applications are considered in British Columbia with aboriginal empowerment efforts. The interest in Kellogg and McConnell Clark foundations and the American Bar Association in preservation of families programs are considered. Recent child care and protection programs in Kansas, Michigan, Vermont, Maine, New York are discussed. The author concludes that practitioners and policy-makers have not yet examined or explored the full implications of the range of changes possible through family group conferences, especially the role of professionals.

Bargen, J. Critical View of Conferencing

A critique of two new criminal justice initiatives, sentencing circles in Canada and family group conferences in Australia, is presented. Sentencing circles in Canada involve a process whereby community members recommend the sentence in cases involving other members of the same community. Family group conferences in Australia allow persons directly affected by crime to actively participate in dealing with the consequences of crime. Both collective and individual accountability for offending behavior. Both initiatives are evaluated in terms of their implications for aboriginal and indigenous communities.

Dutil, Jean-L.. "Restorative Practices Seen by the Court"

Quebec, Canada, Dutil discusses a number of principles and practices in Aboriginal communities in Quebec – principles and practices blending Aboriginal patterns and Euro-Canadian criminal justice. Using examples from actual incidents of crime, he refers in particular to sentencing circles and their similarity to traditional Aboriginal responses to wrongdoing (those traditional responses being based on Aboriginal values and philosophy).

Umbreit, Mark S. "Mediation of Criminal Conflict: An Assessment of Programs in Four Canadian Provinces: Executive Summary Report."

This executive summary describes a study of community based non-profit organizations that provide mediation services for referrals from the criminal justice systems in cities in four Canadian provinces. The four program sites offer a wide range of diversity in program design, community acceptance, caseload size, history, management procedures, and impact on the criminal justice system.

Moore, Larry and Stanway, Kevin. Kaslo Restorative Justice Committee: Community Accountability Program

The authors explain the philosophy behind and the operation of the Kaslo Community Accountability Program in Kaslo, British Columbia. The report gives a profile of the community, the program objectives for it, and the standards and methods adopted for implementation of the accountability program. The document includes copies of sixteen actual forms used in the police investigation and processing, plus those in the accountability program. The forms cover the entire process from investigation to feedback/evaluation for reporting the outcome.

Walker, Ruth. In Canada, solving youth crime tribal way

In this article Walker points to the potential of restorative justice ideas and processes in the Canadian justice system. Those ideas and processes may give greater satisfaction to victims, and they may offer governments an effective alternative to issues and problems in the justice system, especially the costs of incarceration. Walker uses examples of cases from western Canada (where restorative justice resonates with Indian tribal justice) to demonstrate restorative justice in action, including conferencing, restitution, and involvement of victims.

Point, Steven.. Alternative justice, testing the waters.

This article presents an address by Steven Point, judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia, at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan, January 29, 2001. In this address to law students, he introduces restorative justice as the potential for an alternative justice system, for First Nations communities, but also for all Canadians. He relates his own judicial experiences to demonstrate the application of restorative justice principles and processes in a First Nations context.

Spencer, Charmaine.. Achieving justice for abused seniors: The search for solutions

Spencer looks at various aspects of senior abuse and responses to it. Contending that it is underreported, she examines why this is the case. Reasons include hesitancy on the part of seniors and systemic problems in the justice system. This leads to discussion of the search for solutions other than the current criminal justice mechanisms. In particular Spencer considers the question whether restorative justice approaches to senior abuse offer better alternatives.

Sinclair, Murray.. Aboriginal People and Justice Issues

The author, an associate chief judge in Manitoba, Canada, reflects on his experience adjudicating cases for Aboriginal people (including youth). He contends that Aboriginal culture and systems are intrinsically in conflict with Euro-Canadian justice, and that this conflict necessarily means Aboriginal people will run afoul of the Euro-Canadian justice systems, to the failure of each. He points out specific Canadian policies and practices that undermined Aboriginal culture, and he discusses Aboriginal practices that were intended to deal with offenses in the community.

Supreme Court of Canada.. Application of s.718.2(e) of the Criminal Code: R. v. Gladue

This is an excerpt from the Supreme Court of Canada's decision concerning the meaning and application of a section of the Criminal Code of Canada with respect to alternative sentencing, particularly for Aboriginal offenders, but not limited to such. The decision discusses the goals of sentencing and explicitly examines restorative elements in sentencing - especially accountability and acknowledgment of the harm done, and restitution and reparation for that harm - as codified in this section of the Criminal Code.

Strang, Heather and Sherman, Lawrence W. The Victim's Perspective

The authors claim that victims are the forgotten players in the drama of criminal justice, exploited for their evidence but otherwise abandoned. Victims say that little attention is given to the repair of the harm they have experienced personally, or to the psychological and emotional consequences of victimisation. They also say that they feel frustrated and alienated from the justice system, where both the process and the outcome of court procedures fail to take proper account of their perspective. The authors examine how the Canberra police have introduced a radical alternative to traditional court processing, called Diversionary Conferencing, to give victims an opportunity to redress the shortcomings of the justice system from their point of view. It provides them with a forum to explain directly all the harm they have experienced as a result of the offence and to be part of the process that decides on a suitable outcome to repair that harm.

Solicitor General, Canada. Developing & Evaluating Justice Projects in Aboriginal Communities: A Review of the Literature

There has been a proliferation of Aboriginal justice initiatives in recent years. The main impetus has been a wide-spread view, common among both Aboriginal people, and officials and key players in the justice system, that the conventional criminal justice system has not worked well for Aboriginal peoples. This working bibliography assembles written materials - books, monographs, reports, articles, and papers - that are of value for policy makers, practitioners, academics, and citizens who are concerned with justice issues and projects in Canada's Aboriginal communities. The field of justice is defined in the broad sense to include laws, justice practices and processes, policing, and corrections. The objective has been to provide readers, where possible, with a short description of each work, emphasizing its key themes and the issues dealt with. For readers' convenience, the review of literature is divided into two parts: Part A, Contextual and Academic Bibliography, and Part B, Evaluations, Manuals and Programs. Additional sections provide a short background or context for locating or placing Aboriginal justice initiatives and, from the authors' perspective, a short compilation of chief "lessons learned" from the previous justice initiatives.

Solicitor General, Canada.. Adult Offender Diversion Programs

Building on Nuffield's 1997 report for the Solicitor General, Canada, this report summarizes her major findings and lists key policy implications.

Ross, Rupert. Aboriginal Community Healing in Action: The Hollow Water Approach

In response to instances of sexual abuse in an Ojibway community in Canada, a group of social service providers developed an alternate response to the criminal offenses based at least in part on Native principles and practices. The accused may choose the normal criminal justice process or this alternate process. This latter process, involving the offender, victim, family members, and community members, includes criminal charging, the offender's acceptance and disclosure of his or her guilt, a Healing Contract, a Cleansing Ceremony, and often alternate sentencing.

Newfoundland Supreme Court - Trial Division.. A Healing Circle in the Innu Community of Sheshashit

This is the report, attached to a sentencing decision, of a healing circle in a Native community in Canada in response to an assault case. The offender was non-Native, and the victim was Native (Innu). The report details the participants (including the offender and the victim), the principles, the process, and the outcomes of the healing circle for the participants.