Introduction

Black people have a long history in Canada and played an integral role in the formation of the country (Winks, 1997). Despite our contributions to this country, Black populations continue to experience various forms of discrimination and marginalization. Over the past two decades, the negative experiences and overrepresentation of Black people in Canada’s criminal justice system (CJS) have been increasingly acknowledged as an important social issue that prevents full social participation of Black people and denies our constitutionally protected right to equality (Owusu-Bempah and Gabbidon, 2020; Kakembo, 2021).

Black people are often known as an original settler people in Canada because of the length of time we have been on this land. The earliest recorded Black person in Canada is said to be Mathieu da Costa, who is suggested to have worked as an interpreter in New France in the early 1600s. He also spent time in jail in Europe for the nebulous charge of “insolence” (Millette, Lambert, and Poulin, 2023), and so his life embodies the way Black people and the criminal justice system have been entwined since the beginning of European colonialism.

Black people are diverse and come from multiple diasporas, all connecting back at some point to the African continent. Today’s Black Canadians may have roots in Canada going back hundreds of years, or we may be the product of more recent immigration. Black Canadians speak a variety of languages, practice a multiplicity of faiths, and have a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. The term African-Canadian may also be used for Black people, or people may be described with their particular country, region or nation of origin.

On the African continent prior to colonization both by Arabs and by Europeans, African peoples had our own well-developed justice systems, often oriented toward community wellness and accountability and embodying principles of restorative justice. Today, virtually everywhere Black communities are found, Black people are either subject to a legal system imposed or influenced by colonial authorities, or living in a legal vacuum where civil society has broken down due to conflict, which traces its roots to colonial disruption.

Despite decades of work on the topic of inequality in the justice system, a comprehensive and consolidated picture of Black people’s views of and experiences with the CJS across Canada remains absent. Even without that comprehensive and consolidated picture, however, there are hundreds of recommendations advanced by public and community organizations, by academics, and by various task forces established to examine systemic inequalities in the CJS.

Canada’s Black Justice Strategy (the Strategy) aims to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of individuals from Black communities in the CJS, aiming to ensure all people in Canada have access to equal treatment and the equal protection of the law. This document, the Framework, pulls together the information gathered from existing literature, research, and reports, as well as previous engagements with Black communities, experts and organizations, and the key recommendations stemming from earlier work to reflect what we know and what we have heard to date. The aim of the Framework is to inform a consultation process, which will be organized by Black-led local community organizations providing justice-related services and programs. Community organizations will use the Framework as a starting point to validate the information already heard, identify missing information or recommendations, and to highlight gaps in policies, legislation, data, services, initiatives, programs, and community supports, all of which will inform the development and implementation of the Strategy.

The Strategy must be developed with validation of the Framework and the voice of Black communities across the country. This is the beginning of the development of a comprehensive and consolidated picture of Black people’s views of and experiences with the criminal justice system across Canada.