Main Estimates 2020–21

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Programs overview

General note that links Justice programs to Mandate Commitments

Department of Justice programs provide a strong platform for working with provinces, territories and other key stakeholders to achieve Mandate Letter and other Government of Canada priorities.

Mandate Letter Priority: Make drug treatment courts the default option for first-time non-violent offenders charged exclusively with simple possession to help drug users get quick access to treatment and to prevent more serious crimes

• The Drug Treatment Court Funding Program supports provincially and territorially administered drug treatment courts.
• These courts provide access to non-violent offenders, including those charged exclusively with simple possession, an alternative to incarceration by offering them the opportunity to complete a court monitored drug treatment program.
• These courts have shown proven success in breaking the cycle of drug use and criminal recidivism.

Mandate Letter Priority: Work with provinces and territories to provide free legal advice and support to survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence

• Since 2016, through the Victims Fund, Justice Canada has supported Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to pilot the delivery of Independent Legal Advice to victims and survivors of sexual violence through a variety of implementation models.
• In 2019, the Victims Fund expanded its support from Independent Legal Advice to Independent Legal Representation in Nova Scotia and the Yukon.
• These pilots have provided support for victims of sexual violence and intimate partner violence through various activities, including:
  • Indigenous-specific initiatives targeted to deliver culturally-relevant victim services;
  • developing and delivering training to justice professionals, including lawyers, Crown Prosecutors, RCMP, the judiciary, court services and victim services in understanding the complex legal framework surrounding sexual assault, and developing case law in relation to consent.
• These models provide community-based, province-wide programs consisting of navigation and support for survivors, as well as a lawyer referral program to support victims in considering their legal options.

Mandate Letter Priority: Work with the provinces and territories to establish a Community Justice Centres program to put courts alongside other critical social services

• Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, departmental officials had begun engaging with their provincial and territorial counterparts regarding the development of a Community Justice Centres (CJC) program.
• In order for this Program to be effective, it is critical that it allow CJCs to be developed from the grassroots to ensure that each Centre meets the unique needs of a given community.

Mandate Letter Priority: Continue work on a renewed relationship with Indigenous Peoples, including contributing to building the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and continuing progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls for Action

• The Indigenous Justice Program and the Indigenous Courtwork Program are the Department of Justice’s two national Indigenous justice programs and they support Indigenous community justice workers and courtworkers: the only frontline Indigenous justice service workers in Canada.
• Both programs contribute to achieving a number of the MMIWG’s Calls to Justice as well as the TRC’s Calls to Action. Significantly, both programs contribute to an increase in the use of restorative justice processes, a key factor in reducing the rate of Indigenous incarceration.
• The Government also recognizes the importance of revitalizing Indigenous legal systems, and the important role that Indigenous law institutes, in partnership with Indigenous communities, can play in understanding, developing and implementing Indigenous laws.
• To this end, Budget 2019 provided $10.0 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, in support of Indigenous law initiatives across Canada to improve equality for Indigenous Peoples in Canada’s legal system.

Other Priority: Increasing the safety of our communities

• Ensuring the safety of our communities is the ultimate objective of our criminal justice system and is a priority of our government.
• The Department of Justice’s Victims Fund helps to ensure that victims and survivors of crime have improved access to justice.
• The Victims Fund is a multi-faceted program that provides grants and contributions to provinces, territories and non-governmental organizations to advance activities that increase access to, and awareness of, victim services and the needs of victims of crime.
• The Victims Fund regularly funds projects and initiatives of relevance to a wide range of victims and survivors of crime, notably in relation to sexual violence, human trafficking, child victims and violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Other Priority: Legal Representation and Information

• The right to legal representation is a fundamental tenet of Canadian democracy. Nowhere is this right more critical than in ensuring that the most vulnerable in our society have proper legal representation – this includes Indigenous people and those with mental illness.
• The Department of Justice’s Legal Aid Program provides contribution funding to enable the provinces and territories and their legal aid plans to deliver criminal legal aid services to economically disadvantaged persons at risk of incarceration and to youth facing prosecution under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
• In 2020-2021, we are investing $12 million more than we invested in 2019-20 and $32 million more than in 2015-16. We are also providing $3.6 million in federal contributions for the State-Funded Counsel Component of the Legal Aid Program.
• Additionally, Budget 2019 provided a further $16.7 million to address pressures in the delivery of immigration and refugee legal aid services for this fiscal year, increasing the total federal allocation for immigration and refugee legal aid to $28.2 million in 2020-21.
• In cooperation with our provincial and territorial partners, we are continuing to explore and develop innovative approaches for delivering these critical legal aid services in a cost-efficient, sustainable manner.
• Additionally, to help Canadians gain access to the public legal education and information they need, an additional $1.62M per year was dedicated in Budget 2019 to support the work of Public Legal Education and Information organizations across Canada.

Lapse of Grants and Contributions Funds

• My Department keeps a close watch on its annual grants and contributions Budget.
• If unused program funds are identified, they can be quickly redirected to other programs where they can be used to further departmental objectives.
• A process is in place to identify lapses throughout the year as the needs of program recipients, provinces and territories, and their ability to deliver programs, can often change.
  Thanks to this process, Departmental staff were able to assist recipients in realigning budget items and activities that had to be adapted, suspended or cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on planned activities over the last seven months. They communicated with all funding recipients across all programs to best accommodate their evolving needs. For example, the government of NWT requested a reallocation of funds within the territory’s existing funding agreement to support the purchase and distribution of cell phones to support victims and those at an elevated risk of victimization to ensure they can continue to access services remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Communication with Departmental staff is ongoing as each jurisdiction / organization adapts to their ever-changing circumstances.
• For the current fiscal year, forecasted surplus funds have been re-directed where possible to assist funding recipients in safely delivering their programs and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, funding has been provided to Child Advocacy Centres to allow these organizations to better respond to the needs of children, youth and their families. This additional funding will give Child Advocacy Centres urgently needed resources for additional staff, as well as personal protective equipment, cleaning needs, training, purchase or upgrade of existing technology to better meet client needs remotely, and temporarily adapting office space to follow public health guidelines on physical and social distancing.
• Despite best efforts, annually some of the Department’s grants and contributions funding lapses. Mainly lapses occur in those programs that respond to court orders (State Funded Counsel Program) or are dependent on the willingness and ability of provinces to implement (Contraventions Act Fund). Lapses from these programs provide the Department with surge capacity to respond to emerging pressures such as the COVID 19 pandemic.
• In previous years, the Department has reallocated surplus funds to:
  • assist Indigenous community based justice programs in meeting service delivery challenges;
  • University of Victoria Indigenous Law School – Creation of a Joint Program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders;
  • Nova Scotia Access to Justice Institute – Creation of an access to justice institute (including internships for Mi’kmaq students)
  • National Judicial Institute – Training on mental health of jurors; and
  • National 3-day Indigenous Courtwork gathering and training event (Ottawa, March 2019) that celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Indigenous Courtwork Program

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