Suggestions for Change

In light of participants’ unfavourable attitudes towards the current legal system, it is no surprise that several offered suggestions for reform. One participant stated:

[T]he criminal justice system should no longer exist. I don’t think that it plays a significant role in our society and I think that we should look for alternatives to the criminal justice system (CC#3).

They went on to assess other dimensions of the justice system that were “out of step,” but more from a bureaucratic and technical point of view. For them:

[T]here are courts and tribunals that still have a purpose but those courts and tribunals and boards and commissions, they all need to be modernized, they all need to come into the 21st century… ultimately, the court system needs to utilize technology. It should be an after-thought. It should be more nimble and more willing for change (CC#3).

Although vague on specifics, other participants called for a more “expansive” or “varied” approach to legal issues (CC#4), perhaps using more informal, or restorative, mechanisms. One Two-Spirit participant noted the potential value of extending Gladue considerations beyond the criminal courts:

[B]oiled down [Gladue factors] are very specific impacts of colonization that have been identified in law basically. Those things need to be considered any time a person comes in conflict with the law, doesn’t matter if it’s criminal, doesn’t matter if it’s divorce, doesn’t matter if it’s custody or child welfare, doesn’t matter if it’s landlord/tenant, WSIB [Workplace Safety and Insurance Board], EI, human rights, all of it, every time (CC#12).

Participants were also eager to see additional forms of support available to them. From their perspectives, this could include Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) offering assistance, since “it would have been nice to have somebody in the court room assessing from that lens what was happening” (CC#6). It could also involve expanding existing structures such as victim support services. The most common suggestion, however, was to put more resources into “proper training, and more training” for existing justice personnel that would include enhanced awareness of and sensitivity to the unique experiences and needs of 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Finally, one participant noted that the criminal justice system did not meet their needs, given its emphasis on punitive responses and the apparent lack of treatment programs once offenders are incarcerated. They would prefer to see a more restorative approach, “Like I want to know that this person is sorry for what they did. I want to get that apology. And I want to know that it will never happen again. And can our justice system do that for me? Probably not” (CC#2).