Recommendations

Both survey respondents and focus group participants appreciated the intent of the Strategy. However, several individuals offered recommendations to broaden its scope, applicability, and effectiveness. These recommendations were gathered from the online survey and focus group sessions. For ease of communication, they are organized under the thematic pillars present within the Justice Strategy.

The social determinants of justice

  1. Address racial disparities in education:
    1. Collect and analyze race-based data on streaming and disciplinary policies, with a focus on monitoring and addressing disparities affecting Black students.
    2. Increase the representation of Black educators at all levels, including teachers, school administrators, and at the board level.
    3. Update the curriculum to incorporate Black Canadian history and the contributions of Black Albertans.
    4. Implement mandatory anti-Black racism training for all educators and administrators.
    5. Create a welcoming environment with targeted initiatives to support Black parents, especially newcomers with limited language proficiency, in their engagement with the education system.
  2. Improve access to economic opportunities:
    1. Add a 'Black' category to the Employment Equity Act and establish targeted employment opportunities for Black individuals in alignment with population levels.
    2. Collaborate with all levels of government to tackle deskilling and credential barriers faced by newcomers.
    3. Increase funding opportunities for Black businesses and social enterprises and invest in the infrastructure and development of Black business.
    4. Allocate funding for youth entrepreneurship and social enterprise programs to empower young Black individuals in pursuing business opportunities.
  3. Enhance access to mental health services:
    1. Increase funding for cultural sensitivity, and trauma-informed care programs with Afrocentric perspectives, particularly those offered by Black-led organizations.
    2. Boost the representation of Black therapists and mental health workers to better reflect the communities they serve.
    3. Promote collaboration between mental health service providers and Black community organizations to enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of mental health support.
  4. Strengthen community-based support and social services:
    1. Allocate resources to community-based programs that tackle the root causes of crime, with a focus on long-term funding sustainability.
    2. Invest in programs for children and youth in the community and schools, particularly those with large Black populations.
    3. Ensure that both Francophone and rural communities have access to these services.
  5. Address systemic racism in child welfare services:
    1. Make anti-Black racism training mandatory for child welfare staff.
    2. Offer support for parents facing difficulties, involve Black community organizations before considering child removal, and prioritize family preservation and reunification.
  6. Address the needs of Black immigrants and newcomers:
    1. Develop specialized settlement and integration programs to address the distinct challenges encountered by Black refugees and newcomers.
    2. Partner with Black community organizations to create toolkits and orientation manuals for newcomers, including information on the criminal justice system and legal services, ensuring translation into major languages spoken by newcomers.
    3. Offer targeted educational and employment opportunities for refugees.
  7. Housing Stability for Black People in Canada:
    1. Invest in affordable housing options, especially for refugees and newcomers, to ensure access to safe and welcoming neighborhoods.
    2. Address anti-Black racism and the criminalization of asylum seekers in shelters to ensure a fair and equitable environment for all.

Policing

  1. Develop strict sanctions, policies, and protocols for handling instances of perceived discriminatory treatment by police (use of force, use of racial slurs, carding, etc.).
  2. Promote de-escalation techniques in training programs for police officers.
  3. Establish neighborhood policing teams who work closely with the community and are attuned to the needs and overall conditions of local Black communities.
  4. Increase the representation of Black officers within police forces.
  5. Make engagement in cultural events organized by Black communities and collaboration with community organizations to conduct information sessions an integral requirement of the police role.

Courts

  1. Commit to allocating funding and resources to the organizations responsible for the assessment of the Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs).
    1. Make IRCA a mandatory prerequisite for pre-sentencing evaluations for Black offenders, eliminating the discretion of judges in this matter.
    2. Ensure that people and organizations entrusted with preparing IRCAs are people of African descent.
    3. Create an awareness campaign for IRCAs to ensure professionals working with the criminal justice system are well informed on its existence and value.
    4. Ensure the consideration of conditional sentence orders when appropriate.
  2. Increase the representation of Black professionals in the field of justice, especially judges, throughout Alberta, including its rural areas.
  3. Allocate funds and implement restorative justice programs and alternatives to incarceration, with a strong emphasis on addressing anti-Black racism and reintegration, under the leadership of Black community organizations.
    1. Ensure that these alternative programs are taken into account during the sentencing process.
  4. Provide mandatory anti-Black racism training for all justice professions.

Correctional system

  1. Consult with the Black community to create culturally relevant programming for Black inmates that prioritizes healing, education, and reintegration, ed by Black personnel.
  2. Improve the quality of care for incarcerated individuals serving sentences.
  3. Make cultural sensitivity training geared towards teaching about Black history, culture and anti- Black racism mandatory for Correctional officers and other prison staff.
  4. Ensure that the religious rights and freedoms of Black Muslim inmates are respected – such as the right to observe prayer in congregation on Fridays.
  5. Where possible, make concerted efforts to increase the proportion of Black lawyers who can represent Black inmates should such a request be made.
  6. Initiate an awareness campaign focused on informing Black communities about career opportunities within the criminal justice system and bolster the representation of Black staff in the corrections system.
  7. Enhance support and assistance for incarcerated Black individuals in their applications for pardon and record suspension.
  8. Initiate a study examining success rates for pardon and parole applications concerning Black offenders.

Community reintegration

  1. Collaborate with Black community organizations that specialize in assisting Black ex-offenders to establish culturally sensitive reintegration programs, emphasizing healing, and addressing the social determinants of justice.
  2. Work with Black communities to develop Black-led halfway housing and community reintegration programs, with emphasis on Afrocentric perspectives regarding healing and reintegration.
  3. Provide access to safe housing options for recently released individuals, to promote social and economic stability.
  4. Ensure recently released Black individuals have access to culturally responsive, trauma-informed mental health care, including the availability of therapists, psychologists, and other professionals.
  5. Offer vocational and skills training programs to empower recently released individuals to attain economic self-sufficiency, reducing the chances of reoffending.

Victims and survivors of crime

  1. Ensure a structured follow-up process for individuals who file police complaints, including connecting them with available community-based support services.
  2. Implement trauma-informed care, which includes providing therapy and mental health support that is culturally sensitive.
  3. Provide comprehensive training for law enforcement officers and justice professionals to equip them with culturally sensitive, trauma-informed approaches when dealing with victims.
  4. Allocate additional funding to community-based Black-led and ethno-cultural organizations that specialize in supporting victims, including asylum seeker.

Immigration

  1. Ease the work requirement for asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their status.
  2. Dedicate resources to support organizations who advocate for and assist asylum seekers.
  3. As a restorative justice measure, create mechanisms for the reinstatement of permanent residency status for offenders who have lost their status due to incarceration.
  4. Create an awareness campaign to educate Black immigrants on the implications of holding various legal statuses (i.e., permanent residency, citizenship) and their impact in the context of the criminal justice system.

Data collection

  1. Develop a standardized framework of protocols to guide the collection, handling, and storage of race-based data.
  2. Ensure the collection of race-based data is tied to tangible policy outcomes and interventions.
  3. Develop a comprehensive resource registry of Black professionals working within the justice system.
  4. Where possible, disaggregate data on Black communities to highlight intra-group variations and trends.