Department of Justice Component of
Canada's Action Plan Against Racism
Formative Evaluation
3. METHODOLOGY
- 3.1. Document Review
- 3.2. File review
- 3.3. Key Informant Interviews
- 3.4. Case Studies
3. METHODOLOGY
The methodology used to evaluate the Justice component of the Action Plan included a document review, a file review, key informant interviews with departmental officials and other stakeholders, as well as three case studies. This section provides further details on each research method.
3.1. Document Review
A series of relevant documents were identified and reviewed. These documents can be grouped under the following categories:
- Performance information documentation such as: the 2005-06 and 2006-07 Annual Reports to Canadian Heritage; the Evaluation Assessment of Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism; the Evaluation Framework for the Justice Component of Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism; and, the horizontal RMAF for Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism.
- Minutes from Justice Steering Committee on Canada’s Action Plan against Racism meetings
- Deliverables from projects funded through the Justice component of the Action Plan, such as: the National Anti-Racism Council of Canada’s report on the Overrepresentation of Aboriginal Peoples and People of African Descent and Asian Descent in Custody; Dr. Andrea Slane’s report on Combating Hate on the Internet: Current Canadian Efforts and the Recommendations of Non-Governmental Organizations to Improve upon Them; and the Hate Crime for Victim Services Workers booklet, developed by Hate Crime Solutions.
3.2. File review
All JPIP files that have been funded under the Action Plan (n=6) as well as those that were not approved for funding (n=5) were reviewed as part of the evaluation.
3.3. Key Informant Interviews
Interviews were conducted with key informants, both within and outside the Department, who have been involved with the implementation of the Justice component of the Action Plan. A total of 15 interviews were conducted. Interviews with departmental personnel (staff from Youth Justice, Research and Statistics, Public Law Policy, Criminal Law Policy, Human Rights Law, Aboriginal Justice, Office of the Northern Region and Programs Branch) (n=9) were conducted in person, while interviews with key informants outside the Department, including funding recipients and Canadian Heritage staff (n=6) were conducted over the telephone.
3.4. Case Studies
Three case studies were conducted as part of this evaluation. The case studies provided a way to collect detailed information on a sub-set of activities funded through the Action Plan to illustrate activities and results. The conduct of each case study involved a review of the project file/documentation and related information as well as interviews with two to three key persons (including the funding recipient) associated with each project. In this section, each of the three funded projects selected by departmental representatives for the case studies is briefly described to provide context for the case study findings presented in this evaluation report.
3.4.1. National Anti-Racism Council of Canada (NARCC) focus group sessions
Just prior to the end of the 2006-07 fiscal year, the Department provided a contribution to NARCC in the amount of $110,017 to conduct four regional focus group sessions to highlight programs and activities that address the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples and people of African descent and Asian descent in the criminal justice system. NARCC is a national network of Canadian community-based non-governmental organizations committed to the development and dissemination of anti-racism related information and resources, and to the building and supporting of local, regional, national and international strategies to effectively address racism and related intolerance. NARCC membership consists of 125 national organizations representing immigrants and refugees and various ethno-racial groups.
3.4.2. Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice’s Policy Centre for Victim Issues
During 2006-07, the Department’s Policy Centre for Victim Issues (PCVI) contracted with Hate Crime Solutions (a consulting firm that provides training to policing organizations, community groups and social agencies on how to respond to hate crimes) to revise its successful police training materials for use with victim services workers. A portion of Action Plan funds ($12K) was provided for this initiative. Although the training itself is funded through the Victims Fund rather than the Action Plan, it is discussed nonetheless in order to illustrate the quality of the training materials, how they are being used and with whom.
3.4.3. Internet-Based Hate Crime
In September 2006, Justice contracted Dr. Andrea Slane, Executive Director of the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy (CILP) (University of Toronto) to prepare an overview report on the potential role of the Department in combating hate on the Internet. The CILP at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law supports and facilitates the study of law and its relationship to technology, by sponsoring and cultivating research, teaching and knowledge exchange on law, legal theory and policy related to technology, broadly understood.
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