Introduction

1. About the Clinique juridique de Saint-Michel

The Clinique juridique de Saint-Michel (CJSM) is a non-profit organization that was created by Fernando Belton and Limartine Angrand in 2019 with the goal of having a social impact on the justice system. The CJSM operates out of the St. Michel neighbourhood in Montréal, where we work primarily with racialized communities. Although the St. Michel neighbourhood is known for its cultural diversity, it also ranks among one of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Montréal. This is often seen in a negative light and increases the stereotypes associated with racialized individuals, who experience the effects of these biases (racism, discrimination and police brutality, just to name a few). The CJSM’s presence in the region is both deeply symbolic and a tangible reality. Since its first year of operation, the CJSM has been able to mobilize many people and partners, who have become sources of inspiration for their communities.

We have more than just one goal. We aim to educate historically marginalized communities about their rights and obligations in areas such as housing, medical racism and racial profiling. In response to the global movement following the death of George Floyd, we have decided to turn this into a separate area of our work, which we believe is crucial. The CJSM is also a place of training for law students. We tap into our differences, as lawyers and law students work together in a spirit of cooperation. Titles do not matter because everyone, both lawyers and law students, does their part to ensure the clinic runs smoothly.

The CJSM’s mission and the volunteers’ responsibilities have positive impacts on the neighbourhood. Through its commitment, the CJSM has helped hundreds of neighbourhood residents. Its many partnerships with community organizations have helped hundreds of citizens become aware of their rights. The CJSM is relevant and proactive. Its actions are tangible and its results are clear.

The federal government has implemented the rollout of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy (the Strategy) to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination and the over-representation of Black people in the criminal justice system, including as victims of crime. In this context, the CJSM was tasked with conducting public consultations to develop an understanding of the issues on the ground and providing its input (through this report) in its recommendations. It should be noted that, for Quebec in particular, the current provincial government does not acknowledge the existence of systemic racism. However, all the organizations that participated in the consultations do.

1.1 Public consultation team

The entire CJSM team was involved in carrying out this ambitious public consultation project across Quebec. Xiomara Barbareno and Katérie LakpaFootnote 1 jointly coordinated the project as a whole, launching the public consultations, encouraging the participation of the communities affected and writing the report.

Adèle Idriss-Moroz and Évelyne Marchal FerrièreFootnote 2 worked together with the coordinators throughout the consultation process. The in-person events required the invaluable assistance of CJSM volunteers. Aude Desmartis and Maria BoutinFootnote 3 provided help and support in carrying out various tasks, particularly in terms of the social media campaigns to encourage the participation of communities of African descent and the in-person public consultations.

2. Methodology used

To carry out the public consultations, we used various consultation methods (“traditional” methods), as follows: semi-structured group interviews, bilateral meetings and surveys. Each method has its own advantages. The semi-structured interviews and bilateral meetings helped guide the discussions about topics that were previously established by the facilitators and created a safe space for participants to share their experiences. The surveys allowed people who did not want to or could not participate in the interviews to provide their input by anonymously completing a paper or online survey. The online forms did not require respondents to identify themselves. However, respondents were asked to provide information about the administrative region in which they were living, for statistical purposes.

The public consultations focused on four broad themes, as follows:

  1. Systemic racism
  2. Over-policing
  3. Social determinants
  4. Racial profiling

This helped us better compile the data, since all participants discussed these topics. Of course, some topics were discussed in more depth than others from one region to the next, depending on the issues that were relevant to the region.

It should be noted that we wanted to highlight the realities of the communities of African descent that have settled in the regions, whose reality is often quite different from the communities in Montréal. It is also important to note that it was more challenging to research information and find organizations and individuals in the regions who wanted to provide their input. Nonetheless, our regional partners welcomed the initiative. For each of the regions visited, we conducted brief research to better contextualize the issues specific to communities of African descent. In Appendix I, you will find a list detailing the demographic weight of the communities of African descent by region.

For the regions of Mauricie and Montréal, events were carried out in a hybrid format. For all in-person consultations (except for those carried out in penitentiaries), participants were offered refreshments. For the Mauricie region, because participation was low, snacks and refreshments were offered. For the Montréal region, food and refreshments were offered. In terms of our visits to penitentiaries, the institution offered bottled water to participants.

For the other regions, events were held online. For more remote regions, like Abitibi, it was not possible for us to have an in-person event while complying with the time constraints imposed on us.

We also offered individual interviews (by videoconference or phone) to people who were interested. We believe it is important to note the significant mistrust from most of the individuals contacted for their participation in the various round tables. They stated fairly openly that they were very much afraid of retaliation from the police, Canadian immigration services or their employer. We therefore agreed that phone interviews would be the best way to ensure the safety of these individuals.

In addition, some respondents told us that they did not see the value in these consultations, particularly because similar activities had been carried out by local groups. In particular, we note the public consultation on systemic racism and discrimination that was mandated by the executive committee of the City of Montréal regarding the issue of over-policing, and which was carried out by Montréal’s public consultation office and published in 2020.Footnote 4

Lastly, it is important to highlight that, if we had been given more timeFootnote 5 to conduct the public consultations, we could have built trust with the communities of African descent outside the island of Montréal and developed more representative results for the regions.

2.1 Sample

In the context of the public consultations, we consulted about 100 groups across Quebec’s 17 administrative regions. The groups consulted by CJSM include the following:

The goal was to obtain a sample of 150 respondents. Many organizations would have liked to participate but were critical of the very short timeframe allocated to carry out the public consultations. In fact, since many community organizations must work with limited resources due to funding that is very often insufficient, many of them had no choice but to decline our request to participate. We take issue with this sad reality because we strongly believe that their voices would have added value to the discussions. Many people also confirmed their participation but dropped out at the last minute. The summer period and the very short timeframe were two major barriers to the consultation, for both organizations and individuals, given that the consultations also coincided with the back-to-school and back-to-work period.

More importantly, we felt that the lack of participation from Black communities in the context of the Strategy was primarily due to “consultation fatigue.” This population has participated multiple times in public consultation efforts but has not seen any real impacts from their input.

Our greatest challenge was reaching out to a very targeted population that is spread out across a vast territory (Black communities in Quebec’s 17 administrative regions). We realized that we would need communications experts to overcome this challenge. Moreover, we would like to highlight that the budget allocated for conducting the public consultations was largely insufficient. As described in the appendix, our mobilization campaign had an estimated value of $15,000. We used the communications firm RepublikFootnote 9 to help us develop a strategy to encourage the participation of the individuals targeted by the Strategy.

We were able to benefit from an afternoon workshop with their communications, marketing and brand management teams to identify the best advertising campaign that was adapted to our target audience. By mutual agreement, the CJSM team worked together with the Republik team to ensure that the slogan selected (“Amène la discussion ici” [Translation: Bring the discussion here]) was respectful of Quebec’s cultures of African descent. We would like to note that, although Black communities have limited public spaces for discussing, on a daily basis, the issues relating to the injustices they experience, this discussion does take place in private spaces. We also created a website to share information and to keep track of the number of participants through online registrations. This website offered two options:

  1. Registering for in-person or on-line activities for one of the public consultations available nearby
  2. Responding to the online survey anonymously

Our posters were sent to all our partners so they could print a paper copy and post them where their clients would see them. They were also encouraged to share the digital version on their social media networks (see Appendix II). We also worked with a video designer to produce a how-to video indicating how to find the survey link and how to register for the events in the various cities. This video was also shared on the CJSM’s social media networks. We participated in a NeoQuébec radio program, which was broadcast on CIBL 101.5, to promote our event in Montréal. We had 20 minutes to explain the Strategy and the public consultations being carried out across Quebec. In addition to encouraging the listening audience to fill out our online survey, we were able to share information about the round table at McGill University in Montréal. NeoQuébec shared the information about the public consultations (including the link to fill out the survey) on its social media networks.

We tried contacting local media in the various regions. However, due to the time constraints, we were not able to work collaboratively with the regions to encourage participation in the public consultations. We also travelled to Quebec City to meet with the former Minister of Health, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, and the Member of Parliament representing the riding of London West, Arielle Kayabaga, who also chairs the Black Liberal Caucus, in the context of an evening talk. We took advantage of this opportunity to talk about the clinic and promote the consultations.

Lastly, the Federation of Black Canadians shared the link to our survey to the 500 people on its mailing list.

3. Results

We “visited” eight administrative regions: Capitale-Nationale, Mauricie, Outaouais, the greater Montréal area, Montérégie, Lanaudière, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Abitibi.Footnote 10 About 10 community organizations agreed to participate in our round tables, 18 people replied to our online survey,Footnote 11 13 men incarcerated in detention centres were included in our formal sample, 12 people attended our event in Montréal and we held bilateral consultations over the phone with about 10 citizens. We determined the total number of people participating to be about 60 people.

Despite all our efforts to engage the individuals targeted by the consultations, we did not reach our quantitative objective. As mentioned previously, we would like to again repeat the key issues of the very brief timeframe for conducting public consultations of such a significant scope and, in particular, the “consultation fatigue” experienced by the communities targeted by this study.

3.1 Social determinants

[Translation]
“Crime among Black people is different because of their issues; crime is tied to vulnerability, that is, it meets a need.” —Anonymous

The social determinants examined focused on four key areas: immigration status, poverty and access to employment, ethnic and social identification, and issues within community organizations.

3.1.1 Immigration status

From the outset, it should be noted that we took all the necessary steps to visit the Immigration Holding Centre in Laval. However, the Centre declined our request because they were undergoing renovations, and this would have created logistical issues.

Among the social determinants that were specifically identified during our events was immigration status, particularly for people who are outside Montréal. Several organizations noted that greater resources should be provided to ensure the integration of people who immigrate to Canada. We were also made aware that a significant number of the organizations’ users often experienced racism and discrimination in their workplace. In this respect, our partners brought to our attention a substantial number of layoffs of racialized employees with a closed work permit, seemingly without a valid reason.

During our consultation in the Abitibi region, the participants indicated that the closed work permit program for temporary workers put these workers in a precarious situation. They noted that it is not uncommon for these individuals to be in a catch-22 situation when their employers terminate their contract, whether the reasons for doing so are legitimate or not. Similarly, our partners told us that they felt a great deal of discomfort with comments often made by some employers in the region. For example, some of them stated that they had [translation] “ordered themselves some Black people” to work in their businesses. These remarks recall the commodification of Black bodies during the times of slavery. Our partners told us that, although this is not the case with most employers, this language continues to be used often and gives a perspective of how skilled workers are seen as [translation] “commodities.”

We also tried to understand the recourse that individuals use when they face injustices. What we took from the testimonies that were shared with us is that most people do not have a strong sense of trust towards the Canadian justice system, primarily due to their own experiences with the justice system in their country. The respondents were very afraid of losing their status in Canada and being sent back to their country and so did not dare file a complaint. In other words, because they were newcomers and had temporary status, they preferred to deal with their situation in a way that would not affect their status in Canada or jeopardize the arrival of their loved ones (husband, wife or children). These statements were confirmed by a well-known lawyer. We met with her in order to obtain a global picture of the immigration issue in Canada. She shared with us the issue of the sanctions that are placed on companies that hire foreigners to work in Canada. According to this lawyer, these sanctions directly affect workers with a precarious status and create indirect discrimination because they primarily affect racialized individuals (people from the Maghreb region or Francophone Sub‑Saharan Africa). No racialized persons with a closed work permit wanted to respond to our survey, despite the methods put in place to ensure they remained anonymous. The main reason given was fear of retaliation that could affect their immigration status.

Many lawyers and immigration law specialists have criticized police arrests that use disproportionate measures and that could affect an individual’s immigration status. A criminal lawyer gave us the example of one of his clients, who had entered Canada with a temporary visitor status. This client had his passport taken away by a police officer following a minor offence. The client intended to apply for a closed work permit; however, he found himself in a very complicated situation because he no longer had his passport with him in order to continue the application process. Another example brought to our attention was one of a permanent resident who was stopped by police without reasonable grounds and who found himself charged with obstructing the work of police.

In the Bas-Saint-Laurent administrative region, our partners emphasized that there was some discomfort regarding how some immigration issues were treated in the region compared to others. As an example, the Member of Parliament for the region, Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, was involved in citizen engagement efforts asking the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, to intervene in the case of Mr. Croz, who is of French origin and was facing deportation.Footnote 12 At the same time, a Haitian family was also facing deportation by Immigration Canada. Our partners emphasized that no citizen engagement efforts were organized for this Haitian family. It is important to clarify that our partners do not wish to condemn Mr. Blanchette-Joncas’ involvement in the case of Mr. Croz. They simply would like the situation of other people in distress, such as the situation of the Haitian family mentioned above, to also be subject to the same degree of sympathy and mobilization efforts.

3.1.2 Poverty and access to employment

Many people told us that poverty is a key factor that is linked to overincarceration and discrimination. Some individuals turn to crime to meet their basic needs because they lack financial resources. Moreover, several respondents told us that their parents were immigrants and that they held at least two jobs to make ends meet. One of the reasons given is the fact that foreign credentials are not recognized, specifically in Quebec. One of the participants told us that immigrant parents are so burned out by their immigration journey and all the administrative steps involved in this process that they have neither the time nor the energy to go back to school. As a result, children of immigrant parents must take on responsibilities at a very young age and miss out on the opportunity to just be children or teenagers. This situation means that these children must mature more quickly, find ways to make money quickly and develop a [translation] “negative perspective of assistance.”Footnote 13

This same experience was widely shared by the incarcerated men we met with. Many of them shared that they had a difficult childhood, with parents who had two jobs. They had to take on many responsibilities from a very young age. Poverty and the need for money seem to be the main reasons behind their criminal actions and their conflicts with the law. We will come back to this later.

Many respondents told us that they had problems finding well-paying jobs. Others stated that, despite their credentials, they experienced challenges finding employment that was worthy of their skills. Some respondents told us that they had [translation] “dropped out of school” to find work. However, they quickly left the labour market to pursue [translation] “illegal activities” that were more lucrative.

3.1.3 Ethnic and social identification

Many respondents, particularly men, stated that society labels them because they are [translation] “Black men.” They are often seen as dangerous individuals. As a result, they disproportionately find themselves in situations of racial profiling and suffer the effects of over-policing. Moreover, these individuals experience a distortion of their identity.

3.1.4 Issues within community organizations

We met with several community organizations that work with communities of African descent to discuss the social determinants of the communities they serve. In areas outside Montréal, community organizations seem to be the only pillar for communities of African descent. Some of them even told us that their users prefer to turn to community organizations instead of the police. We note that there are very few organizations for and by Black people in the province as a whole. Most of these organizations are in Montréal and lack funding from the provincial government. Although the organizations told us that it is easier to obtain funding from the federal government, financial resources remain largely insufficient, considering all the work there is to do on the ground. Similarly, many workers from community organizations in the regions consulted told us that they sometimes have to use their own resources (such as their own vehicle) to offer services to people in need that are beyond the scope of their duties, due to a lack of adequate resources.Footnote 14 It was also brought to our attention that, when the organizations obtain funding, their areas of activity are very limited, particularly in terms of helping newcomers integrate.

Organizations told us that they did not have anybody of African descent within their organization. Even worse, case workers told us about issues of racism that exist even within their own organization, which is supposed to provide support to racialized individuals. As an example, one case worker told us about a policy of discrimination in the hiring of racialized people that was well established within the organization for which she works. In other words, the hiring process deliberately excluded racialized individuals. The overwhelming majority of case workers we met with who were helping newcomers integrate in the regions told us that they had heard colleagues make racist remarks.

3.2 Law and order

[Translation]
“No matter what I do, they are against me. I prefer to avoid arguing after experiencing police harassment.” —Anonymous

We noted, on many occasions, that some individuals are afraid of law enforcement. Many participants told us about police interventions where excessive force was used. This reality was particularly raised by participants in the Montréal and Lanaudière regions.

For example, one of the respondents stated that he had been beaten by 10 police officers. He refused to file a complaint because he had recovered from the situation and did not want to relive the trauma through a judicial process. He stated that he felt powerless in the face of police abuse. Another example is that of a citizen of African descent who was stopped by police while working as a deliveryman. They did not give him a reason and, after arresting him, told him that he was not in fact the person they were looking for. Many people also talked about the constant harassment they experience from police officers. It is clear that many people of African descent are afraid of police. This is true across all the regions.

Virtually all lawyers and community workers we met with stated that the intervention methods used by police forces are very often inadequate—and even racist or discriminatory—in regard to people of African descent.
Many partners brought to our attention that some people with immigrant backgrounds have a great deal of distrust of the police, particularly because of their experiences in their own countries. Other individuals with precarious status are very afraid of criticizing the police when they are victims of abuse because of their immigration status.

3.3 Courts and legislation

[Translation]
“People do not want to go against the system, which is unjust” —Caseworker working with Black offenders

During our consultations, many people told us that they did not trust the justice system. One respondent in particular told us that, although he did not trust the system, he had no choice. This same person told us that he was very much aware that systemic racism exists and that, if somebody were to steal something from him, a Black person, there is nothing the police would do. Similarly, one of our partners, which specializes in addressing violence against women, told us that Black women face even more challenges in filing complaints. It is clear that empathy for Black women is sorely missing from the justice system. There is also a tendency to not take them seriously when they file a complaint.

Access to justice is an issue that was raised across the board throughout the public consultations. Many respondents stated that they were not able to access the services of a lawyer because they lacked financial means. Those who were able to access the services of a lawyer to represent them highlighted the serious lack of trust between them and their lawyer. Respondents told us that they felt they were [translation] “sold out by their lawyer.” There was an overwhelming feeling that some lawyers wanted to prolong the proceedings, which would involve additional costs.

The shortage of lawyers from communities of African descent is an issue we observed. One respondent told us that they did not know [translation] “that Black lawyers existed.” Some of our partners in the Montérégie region also told us that they had some clients who did not want to be served by Black lawyers.

In some regions, particularly in Lanaudière, it is very difficult to obtain legal translation services, specifically towards African languages and dialects. A participant from the Lanaudière region told us that his client did not speak English or French. The court requested a psychiatric assessment for his client because she seemed to be very confused and not very reactive, according to the court. However, the psychiatrist rightly noted that the client had no mental health issues; she simply was not fluent in the languages in which the court was addressing her.

In addition, many lawyers who participated in the public consultations seemed to be unaware of the Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs). Essentially, “an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA) is an attempt to articulate the issues of anti-Black racism and systemic racism in Canadian society to the court at the sentencing stage of adjudicating African Canadians. A founding premise of IRCAs is that a person’s race and cultural heritage should be considered as a significant factor in considering their sentence in a criminal matter.”Footnote 15

In this respect, one of our partners told us that this procedure could be a double-edged sword.

That is, in some cases, the IRCAs could be used against a racialized person.

3.4 Correctional services

[Translation]
“The justice system was created by and for White people.” —Anonymous

We visited a few correctional institutions. Participants were from various cultural communities of African descent, as follows:

The ethic/demographic makeup of respondents:

Age group of respondents:

Some of the respondents were happy to be able to participate in the process while others were skeptical. We had to repeat the importance of the consultations in addressing the over-representation of Black people in the Canadian justice system. Among the individuals we interviewed, five inmates stated that they had received fair sentences, while three believed that their sentences were disproportionate.

In addition, it is important to mention that some lawyers told us that their clients of African descent who were incarcerated were often treated unfairly because they were systematically linked to street gangs as a result of their ethnic origin.

3.4.1 Conditions of men offenders

We would like to acknowledge the support of a Project Officer, Citizen Engagement and Ethnocultural Services, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), who helped us obtain the necessary authorizations to meet with the inmates within a very short timeframe. However, we would like to note that the fact that we had to be accompanied by CSC members to carry out our consultations with inmates of the Federal Training Centre affected our impartiality in terms of the independent process of the consultations. For example, we were surprised that one of the officers accompanying us was recognized by one of the participants as his former parole officer, and that she attended our meeting with the inmates without notifying us of her former role within the institution. For us, this clearly went against our principle of providing a safe space to all our participants.

Upon our arrival at the institution, we noted that there was an under-representation of Black staff members within the detention centre. Our partners also highlighted this issue: the shortage of racialized staff within the penitentiaries (psychologists, parole staff, etc.) is a key factor.

The only Black individuals we encountered were the security guard and the female guard. All the case workers in a position of authority were White. Prior to our meeting with the inmates, we noted that there were posters sending positive messages to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. This is an initiative launched by the regional ethnocultural advisory committee, which is made up of four volunteer members from ethnocultural communities. Because we were accompanied by the Project Officer, Citizen Engagement and Ethnocultural Services, Correctional Service of Canada, we were able to ask her some questions about this program. She told us that there is only one position of Project Officer per province. Ms. Bernard also stated that there may be more racialized individuals who hold this position. In addition, although they were not required to offer these positions to racialized individuals because they did not want to fall in the token trap, they made efforts to understand how correctional institutions can ensure that they understand the needs of racialized individuals. More specifically, the CSC wants to develop an overview of the people consulted during decision-making. In this respect, Ms. Bernard told us that she was working in partnership with community organizations from Black communities and that, for the 2023–2024 year, 75 ethnocultural activities had already been planned and would be offered in Quebec’s nine institutions. The main issue was that community organizations created by and for Black communities are few and far between and often lack funding. In addition, none of the Black people consulted had power within the institution.

We were supposed to meet with roughly 20 inmates in the Federal Training Centre. However, on the day of our round table, we noted that only about 10 people were present. It was brought to our attention that some inmates could not be present because they had to undergo an [translation] “examination.” These individuals expressed their interest in participating in our round table to the penitentiary’s relevant authorities. However, the institution refused to accommodate these inmates; we maintain that the discussion could have benefitted from the input of a greater number of participants.

The respondents told us that, in general, their first interactions with the police occurred between ages 5 and 13; most of them were about 9 years old when they had their first encounter with the police. Some people told us that youth from the community had nowhere to go to burn up some energy outside of school. Many of them told us that, in their youth, they met many people who were talented in sports. However, in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, which were primarily made up of people of African descent, no sports facilities were available.Footnote 16 Although there is a sports complex in the Montréal-Nord neighbourhood, the fairly challenging process of accessing these facilities, particularly the gyms, means that young people prefer to do other things.

One of the participants we interviewed during this event told us that he had not eaten for several days. This individual belongs to the Rastafarian religion and follows a diet that is specific to his religious beliefs. He stated that the institution refuses to give him the food he needs to nourish himself and respect his beliefs. According to him, one of his fellow inmates, who is Jewish, had no problems obtaining kosher meals. Moreover, this same inmate made a request to obtain new pots and he received used ones, which is prohibited in his religion, whereas the Jewish inmate received new ones. During this consultation, other inmates told us that the detention centre made efforts to try to accommodate them. Some of them believed that these efforts were minimal, while others did not have an opinion on the issue.

We also learned that inmates have a list of 40 items they can access. However, the items that are available are not always adapted to the realities of people of African descent; of particular note are hair products. In addition, although Black people are over-represented in the justice system, they are still a minority within the penitentiaries, which means that most products on this list are based on the majority population (i.e., White people).

There are no racialized members on the inmate committee. Even worse, the chair of this committee has Ku Klux Klan tattoos (KKK) on his face and arms. It is therefore key that there be a representative of African descent on this committee. Although there is a paid ethnocultural representative within the institution, this person is not a member of the inmate committee.

Inmates of African descent encounter significant resistance and have to deal with racist insults when they request specific products, such as special food or skin and hair products. It was brought to our attention that essential products used by Black people (shampoos, skin cream, etc.) are more expensive than other products. For example, hair shampoo costs more than $15, a price that many cannot afford. The inmates noted that, when the detention centre adds these products, there is no follow-up to find out exactly which products they need. In fact, the detention centre [translation] “assumes” the products that would be the most appropriate for this group, without consulting the population concerned. This creates many issues. For example, the detention centre adds certain items to its list, such as shampoos, that they believe are good for Black hair, although this is often not the case. The inmates targeted by this initiative do not purchase this product. The institution then assumes that they do not need to offer shampoos for Black hair because the inmates do not buy them. We note that there is a complete lack of understanding of the day-to-day issues of inmates of African descent.

In addition, we talked about their treatment in prison. Eleven out of the thirteen people told us that they had received racist comments from their fellow inmates and staff members. Naturally, the inmates believed that two or three people out of five are racist. Recently, they saw and heard a guard say, [translation] “No immigrant will make me lose my job.” The inmates hear the “N” word at least twice a week. They told us that they filed a complaint in this respect but their voices do not seem to be heard. They told us that people who make racist remarks face no consequences. They gave us a few examples. In one case, there was a violent encounter between a Latin American inmate and a Black inmate. The Latin American inmate used the “N” word four times to refer to the Black inmate; on the fifth time, the Black inmate replied by striking him. The Latin American inmate was placed in confinement and the Black inmate was sent to segregation.

After this incident, many of them told us they would no longer respond to this type of racist insult. They [translation] “learned to live with these racist comments on a daily basis,” because they do not want to be sent to segregation or be transferred to a detention centre that would be difficult for their family members to access. The same is true for disagreements. Many of them told us that, as soon as they arrived at the detention centre, they were told to [translation] “stay calm,” or they would be transferred to another prison.

The voices of these ten or so Black inmates present during our consultation were unanimous. They all agreed with the facts and stories shared.

3.4.2 Women offenders of African descent

We had planned a few meetings with women offenders; however, the very short timeframes and the “consultation fatigue” mentioned earlier worked against us. Although we were unable to meet with them, we were able to meet with case workers who work in halfway houses for women offenders.

These women highlighted that the prison environment is very paternalistic towards women inmates. For example, they told us that women offenders often have a no-contact order against their former spouse as part of their conditions, whereas men offenders rarely have no-contact orders against their former spouse. According to our partners, this is symbolic of the highly paternalistic relationship towards women in general and women offenders in particular. Moreover, this paternalism is reflected in the language used by prison staff regarding women offenders. It is interesting to note that, according to our partners, women tend to have shorter sentences, which may be due to the social taboo surrounding female crime. Since women offenders generally have shorter sentences, it is more difficult to review their detention conditions.

Issues regarding the training of correctional officers were noted. Women offenders of African descent experience multiple microaggressions throughout their incarceration. Similarly to men offenders, many of them reported not having access to products that are adapted to their skin or hair.

One of our partners working with women offenders on the island of Montréal explained to us that the consideration of social determinants for women offenders is a double-edged sword. In fact, former women inmates are often assessed as having a high risk to reoffend because their living environment is often seen as [translation] “foreign” (that is, different in many respects) in relation to the realities of the individuals who sit on the parole committee. It should be noted that this supports the information provided by some of our partners regarding the IRCAs, as mentioned earlier in this report.

4. Rehabilitation and reintegration

In the context of the consultation process, we made many efforts to reach out to halfway houses to set up a meeting and ask for their participation in our public consultation. Many of them declined the invitation because they felt that they were not affected by this issue since most of their clients are not of African descent. We were able to contact one halfway house that wanted to participate but was unable to due to a shortage of financial and human resources. This respondent told us that they would speak with Black people in their facility to see if they would like to participate. We have not received any updates in this respect. However, we were able to meet with the organization HoodstockFootnote 17 in the Montréal-Nord neighbourhood on three occasions. The first meeting took place on August 8, 2023, to understand the issues they face as an organization that created a restorative justice pilot project by and for Black people. A second meeting took place during their restorative justice event (Réuni-e-s pour guérir : vers une justice réparatrice par et pour les personnes noires) [Translation: Together to heal: towards restorative justice by and for Black people], which took place on September 9, 2023. A third meeting took place during our public consultation on September 11, 2023.

4.1 General Alternative Measures Program

During our first meeting, we talked about the Justice Hoodistique project, a restorative justice pilot project created by and for the Black community. This project can be described as an awareness measure within the General Alternative Measures Program (GAMP), which is headed by the organization Équijustice. Justice Hoodistique is a diversion pilot project that addresses the [translation] “stigmatization of Black communities and the consequences of criminal activities on the social determinants of health.”Footnote 18 This initiative was developed in 2017Footnote 19 but was only launched in 2021 after the organization received $400,000 in funding over three years from the Public Health Agency of Canada under the Mental Health of Black Canadians (MHBC) bannerFootnote 20 to implement the pilot project.

As part of this program, participants can take part in healing retreats through Afrocentric workshops on topics such as Black history, kasàlà poetry, yoga, meditation, managing emotions, self-reflection, and self-esteem to work on rebuilding oneself. The Justice Hoodistique project also offers psychosocial follow-up and circles (cercles hoodistiques), where the accused, their social circle and the victim (if they decide to participate) can jointly find the best approach to repair the harm that was caused. This project was inspired by the alternative measures program used in Indigenous communities. Hoodstock told us about the importance of having programs that are created by and for Black communities, since many people have developed a mistrust of the justice system as a result of the abuse of power by police officers, the lack of access to justice, systemic racism and racial profiling.

4.1.1 Issues encountered in implementing the project

Hoodstock encountered some challenges in expanding its pilot project (to serve more men, women and children), particularly because the institutions’ expectations are unrealistic for Black communities. Since the government does not maintain ethnic/cultural data, it is difficult to obtain the percentage of Black people who are referred to diversion programs. Although increasing efforts are being made to obtain demographic data, the data relating to Black people is not compiled, which contributes to a process whereby this community becomes invisible and, as a result, the issues experienced by Black people within the justice system go unnoticed. This reality is particularly true at the provincial level, since the Government of Quebec requires data in order to expand the project, knowing that this data does not exist.

This reality was particularly highlighted by certain regional organizations, which noted that universities, as well as researchers with ties to universities in the regions, should carry out research on the experiences of communities of African descent, a subject that has been understudied. Many people are not aware of their rights and prosecutors do not mention possible alternatives, which contributes to systemic racism because halfway houses are at full capacity, even though they do not house any racialized people. Hoodstock told us that they take in up to five people per cohort (men of African descent) and that the project is already at its seventh cohort. The project has only had 20 people who participated in the program, given the lack of referrals of Black people to the GAMP by Crown prosecutors. More outreach is necessary since many individuals who commit minor offences (and who could benefit from this alternative) are not informed of this alternative or are simply not referred to it by prosecutors. In other words, although there is an over-representation of Black people in the justice system, they are under-represented in diversion programs, which could help them avoid having a criminal record.

4.1.2 Research on the General Alternative Measures Program

The research by Dominique Bernier, Chanel Gagnac and Nancy Zagbayou shows the importance of creating an alternative measures program specifically for Black people, similarly to what we have in Quebec with the alternative measures program for Indigenous people. We justify this need by the fact that crimes committed by Black people are different from the rest of the population as a result of racial profiling and systemic racism. During the September 9, 2023, event organized by Hoodstock, participants discussed the benefits of the Justice Hoodistique project. One participant stated that he was hesitant at first but that, with the help of his peers, he incorporated the project’s teachings. This person explained how the Justice Hoodistique project helped him heal from trauma he experienced in the past and helped him build a new identity. The fact that he was supported by Black people like him was extremely important to him for cultural reasons and for reasons of representation; in addition, he was supported by people from his community, who could understand his reality. To date, all participants who started the pilot project have completed it successfully and have not reoffended. The pilot project shows the importance of having diversion programs that consider the issues experienced by Black people in the justice system. These same issues were raised during our consultation on September 11, 2023.

5. Recommendations

Our recommendations are focused on four areas: social determinants, law and order, courts and legislation, and correctional services.

5.1 Social determinants

5.2 Law and order

5.3 Courts and legislation

5.4 Correctional services

To address the over-incarceration of Black people, a number of measures and recommendations were presented to respondents of the online survey, including the following:

  • Repealing all mandatory minimum sentences for all offences relating to controlled substances and weapons.
  • Adding “Black offenders” to section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code on sentencing principles, acknowledging the over-incarceration and systemic racism that affect Black people.
  • Implementing strategies to increase the representation of Black lawyers, judges and court staff members.
  • Increasing funding for legal aid services to ensure equitable access to high-quality legal representation for Black communities.

There were 38.8% of respondents who believed that these recommendations would help address the over-incarceration of Black people. However, 33.33% of respondents were not sure whether these measures would help address the over-incarceration of Black people.