From the Minister
I am pleased to present the Department of Justice Canada’s 2021-22 Departmental Results Report for the reporting period of April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. This report details the Department’s key achievements over the last year.
As Canadians, we can be proud of the high-quality work Justice Canada employees have accomplished this year. The Department has helped advance a broad range of Government of Canada priorities. We applied a range of critical considerations to legal services and evidence-based public policy, such as legal risk analysis; diversity and inclusion, including Gender-Based Analysis Plus; privacy; modern treaty implications; and strategic environmental assessment. Our efforts this past year have had a meaningful impact on our justice system and have ultimately served Canadians.
Over the past year, the Department provided legal services on a wide range of government initiatives. Contributing to the Government of Canada’s actions to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic remained a key priority in 2021-22. Justice Canada provided legal advice to federal departments and agencies on public health and safety, benefit programs for Canadians in need, and Canada’s economic recovery. We developed legislation that amended the Criminal Code to enhance protections for health care workers and ensure that everyone has safe and unobstructed access to health services. For this, I am especially grateful.
Justice Canada also provided legal services – including legal advice and litigation and legislative support – on other significant initiatives, notably stronger gun control laws to keep Canadians safe and efforts to address intimate partner violence.
The Department’s work to strengthen and renew nation-to-nation, Inuit-Crown and government-to-government relationships with Indigenous peoples and advance meaningful reconciliation remained a key priority. At the heart of these efforts is our work with Indigenous partners to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. I am deeply proud of this critical work to uphold the human rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. This work complements other initiatives, including work towards the development of an Indigenous Justice Strategy, exploring administration of justice agreements, and advancing our response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice. I am also pleased that, consistent with the Attorney General of Canada’s Directive on Civil Litigation Involving Indigenous Peoples, the Department played an important role in the resolution of significant class actions relating to drinking water on reserves, as well as a number of other significant litigation matters. This work demonstrates our steadfast dedication to the shared path of reconciliation and working in partnership with Indigenous peoples to build a better Canada and a brighter future for generations to come.
This past year Justice Canada also made great progress in improving the fairness, equality and protection of Canada’s criminal justice system and addressing the overrepresentation of certain groups. Importantly, the Department developed legislation that amended the Criminal Code to ban conversion therapy practices, which will help protect the equality and dignity of 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Canada now has the most comprehensive criminal laws in the world against these harmful and discredited practices. Additionally, Justice Canada developed legislation that aims to keep communities safe, fight systemic racism, and make the criminal justice system more effective. These proposed changes would reform sentencing measures for certain offences, including repealing some mandatory minimum penalties that contribute to higher rates of imprisonment and disproportionately affect Indigenous people and Black Canadians. These proposed amendments would encourage alternative ways of responding to the causes and consequences of offending. Focusing on addressing systemic inequities and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system reminds us why we are here – to support those who need it.
I would like to thank all Department of Justice Canada employees for their hard work and dedication to serving the public. This work truly benefits Canadians across the country and helps shape a fairer and more relevant and accessible justice system for all.
The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., K.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
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