Appendix B

Glossary

Anti-Black racism: “Anti-Black racism is prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping and discrimination that is directed at people of African descent and is rooted in their unique history and experience of enslavement and its legacy. Anti-Black racism is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies and practices, to the extent that anti-Black racism is either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger White society. Anti-Black racism is manifest in the current social, economic, and political marginalization of African Canadians, which includes unequal opportunities, lower socio-economic status, higher unemployment, significant poverty rates and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.” (Government of Ontario, 2021)

Anti-racism approach: “Anti-racism is a process, a systematic method of analysis, and a proactive course of action rooted in the recognition of the existence of racism, including systemic racism. Anti-racism actively seeks to identify, remove, prevent, and mitigate racially inequitable outcomes and power imbalances between groups and change the structures that sustain inequities.” (Government of Ontario, 2021)

Bail or judicial interim release: Judicial interim release is the formal legal term for what most people refer to as “bail.” When an individual is arrested and charged with a crime, they are presumed innocent, but if the police and/or the Crown believe that it would be too dangerous to release the person into the community, they are taken into custody and must appear before a magistrate or a judge to ask that they be released on conditions until they come back to court to deal with their charges.

Conditional sentence order (CSO): This is the formal legal term for what many people refer to as “house arrest.” “The conditional sentence is a meaningful alternative to incarceration for less serious and non-dangerous offenders.  The offenders who meet the criteria … will serve a sentence under strict surveillance in the community instead of going to prison.  These offenders’ liberty will be constrained by conditions to be attached to the sentence… In case of breach of conditions, the offender will be brought back before a judge ….  If an offender cannot provide a reasonable excuse for breaching the conditions of his or her sentence, the judge may order him or her to serve the remainder of the sentence in jail.” (R. v. Proulx, 2000 SCC 5 (CanLII), [2000] 1 SCR 61 at 21-22.).

Cultural competence: The ability to understand people from other cultures and interact fairly and effectively with them.

Disaggregated data: Separating information into smaller groups or units so as to better analyze it for trends. In the context of the recommendations in this document, the need for disaggregated data refers to the desire to break down data gathered about “visible minorities” into specific categories, including one for those who identify as Black or African.

Discrimination: “Treating someone unfairly by either imposing a burden on them, or denying them a privilege, benefit or opportunity enjoyed by others, because of their race, citizenship, family status, disability, sex or other personal characteristics.” (Canadian Heritage, 2019a).

Diversion: Diversion revers to diverting, or moving, cases away from the criminal justice system by offering an individual charged with a criminal offence the opportunity to complete counselling or programming in the community. Once this is successfully completed, the Crown will agree to withdraw or stay the charges (see definition below). Some jurisdictions have specialized diversion courts, such as mental health courts, drug treatment courts, or FASD courts, which have more structured programs that offer diversion if individuals agree to receive programming and supports specific to the focus of that particular court.

Intersectionality: “Acknowledges the ways in which people's lives are shaped by their multiple and overlapping identities and social locations, which, together, can produce a unique and distinct experience for that individual or group, for example, creating additional barriers or opportunities” (Government of Canada, Canadian Heritage, 2019b). This term was first used by African-American legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how race and gender discrimination both impact the lives of Black women.

Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA): “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.” R. v. Jackson 2018 ONSC 2527 (CanLII) at p. 28. An IRCA is a report prepared by a social worker or other professional that contains information provided by a Black accused person and their family, friends and supports that helps to explain how anti-Black racism contributed to their criminal offending.

Mandatory minimums: Mandatory minimum sentences are sentences for criminal offences that require a judge to impose a sentence of at least the length of time provided in sentencing laws such as the Criminal Code, Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, or Youth Criminal Justice Act. The judge cannot impose a lower sentence unless the accused person is able to show that the mandatory minimum is cruel and unusual punishment, pursuant to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Marginalization: “Marginalization is a long-term, structural process of systemic discrimination that creates a class of disadvantaged minorities. Marginalized groups become permanently confined to the fringes of society. Their status is perpetuated through various dimensions of exclusion, particularly in the labour market, from full and meaningful participation in society” (Government of Ontario, 2021).

Over-policing: Refers to an excessive response from law enforcement characterized by a heavy police presence and over-surveillance, an aggressive response to minor offences, frequent interactions with people who are not breaking any laws especially among low-income individuals and racial minorities.

Pre-trial detention: If an individual is not granted bail, or does not apply for it, they are held in pre-trial detention or remand custody, where they are housed in a jail and treated in a similar manner to sentenced inmates, although they are still presumed innocent and have not been convicted of a crime.

Race: “Race is a term used to classify people into groups based principally on physical traits (phenotypes) such as skin colour. Racial categories are not based on science or biology but on differences that society has created (i.e., “socially constructed”), with significant consequences for people’s lives. Racial categories may vary over time and place and can overlap with ethnic, cultural or religious groupings” (Government of Ontario, 2021).

Racial profiling: “Racial profiling is any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection, that relies on stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin, or on a combination of those traits, rather than on a reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment” (Government of Ontario, 2021).

Recidivism: Recidivism refers to a person who has been convicted of a crime, served a sentence of incarceration and been released into the community, and then commits a new crime.

Record suspension or pardon: In Canada, record suspensions are granted by the Parole Board of Canada and former offenders can apply for them either 5 or 10 years after finishing their sentences, depending on the type of offence they committed. There is a fee. If granted, a record suspension requires police not to disclose an individual’s criminal record when someone does a criminal record check on that individual. Certain offences are not eligible.

Re-entry or reintegration: This refers to the process by which a person housed in a correctional institution transitions back to living in the community. For federal prisoners, the process is overseen by the Parole Board of Canada. For provincial offenders who have received probation as part of their sentence, their parole officer supervises their return to the community.

Restorative justice: Restorative justice is a process that brings together an offender and a victim, and any other persons affected by the crime, who agree to participate. The parties discuss the effects of the crime and ways to hold the perpetrator accountable to remedy the harm (https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/victim/rest.html).

Social determinants of justice: These are socio-economic factors from outside the justice system that affect outcomes inside the justice system.

Stay of proceedings or withdrawal of charges: This occurs when a prosecutor agrees not to continue a prosecution; commonly known as “having your charges dropped.” The person who receives a stay of proceedings is not convicted of the offence and no longer needs to attend court. Though people often use the terms stay of proceedings and withdrawal of charges interchangeably, the two are different. A withdrawal of charges means that the prosecution can never bring those charges back, but with a stay of proceedings, charges can be revived within a year.

Systemic and institutional racism: “Consists of patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the social or administrative structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate a position of relative disadvantage for racialized persons. These appear neutral on the surface but, nevertheless, have an exclusionary impact on racialized persons” (Canadian Heritage, 2019a).

References

Canadian Heritage. (2019a). What we heard: Informing Canada’s anti-racism strategy. Glossary. Government of Canada: Canada’s anti-racism strategy. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/anti-racism-engagement/what-we-heard.html#a2

Canadian Heritage. (2019b). Building a Foundation for Change: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/anti-racism-engagement/anti-racism-strategy.html

Government of Ontario. (2021). Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism. Glossary. Government of Ontario: Anti-racism Directorate. https://www.ontario.ca/document/data-standards-identification-and-monitoring-systemic-racism/glossary

Statistics Canada. (2011).Persons living in low-income neighbourhoods. Catalogue no. 99-014-X201100. National Household Survey, 2011. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-014-x/99-014-x2011003_3-eng.pdf

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2019). Eliminating Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement. Toronto: Government of Ontario.