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TRIPARTITE FORUM
March 11, 2004
Helping Aboriginal Youth understand the Youth Criminal Justice System
Teachers, administrators and counsellors of Aboriginal youth recently gathered for a workshop to help them educate youth about the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network hosted workshop called “On The Road to Justice,” a program of the Department of Justice Canada, Youth Justice Policy.
The program was developed in conjunction with a national Aboriginal steering committee and is offered to every province and territory in Canada.
In April it will be a year since the YCJA came into force. The YCJA helps to rehabilitate and reintegrate youth back into the community rather than sentencing first time and non-violent offenders.
Evelyn Neaman, the society’s national coordinator for “On the Road to Justice” said, “This project is critical for Aboriginal youth and their communities.”
Racism in the criminal justice system came forth when Donald Marshall Jr. spent 11 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. The 1989 Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. Prosecution reported the Cape Breton Mi’kmaq was the victim of a justice system rife with racism and offered more than 170 recommendations for improvement.
The workshop helps to bridge gaps and eliminate cultural barriers between the criminal justice system and the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq by providing information and promoting an understanding of the YCJA.
“With knowledge comes a better understanding of the justice system,” said Janice Maloney, director of the Mi’kmaq Legal Support Network. “And knowledge empowers the community.”
The package consists of tools to help educate Aboriginal young people about their legal rights, accountability for their own actions and victim’s rights. As well it includes information on other alternatives the courts may consider such as sentencing circles.
The participants will take the program package back to their classrooms and communities and teach it to the young people they work with.
“The workshop develops an awareness about the YCJA and its process,” said Doreen Stevens, student counsellor for the Unamaki High School in Eskasoni. “The information provided allows me, as a support person, to assist the client in restorative justice and rehabilitation at the school level.”
The two workshops took place in Eskasoni on March 8th and in Millbrook on March 10th. The “On the Road to Justice” workshop is supported by the Department of Justice Canada, Youth Justice Policy and The Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq.
The host organization, the Mi’kmaw Legal Support
Network, strives to maintain sustainable justice support systems to
ensure fair treatment for all Mi’kmaw and Aboriginal Peoples in
the justice system.