The Law Foundation of BC has marked a pivotal moment in its commitment to justice reform, providing a $15 million multi-year grant to support the BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC) in delivering on the ambitious BC First Nations Justice Strategy. The groundbreaking Justice Strategy advances the restoration of Indigenous legal systems, traditions, and structures and addresses the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system.
The Justice Strategy takes a two-track approach. The first track focuses on overhauling the current criminal justice system, which over-incarcerates and under-protects Indigenous people and in which First Nations have no role as law-makers or decision-makers. As criminal law and child protection are two areas where the historical and ongoing impacts of colonization are especially prevalent, BCFNJC is particularly focused on making advancements through the Justice Strategy that will improve the justice outcomes of Indigenous people in these areas.
The second track goes beyond the work needed to fix the Canadian system, and aims to restore First Nations legal traditions and restore Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination over legal structures, which BCFNJC considers necessary to improve the lives of Indigenous people. To help achieve this, the BCFNJC has built a network of 16 Indigenous Justice Centres across the province. These centres are safe, welcoming spaces in the community that offer culturally safe and accessible legal services, plus additional wraparound supports, to Indigenous peoples. They are located in Burns Lake, Chilliwack, Cranbrook, Fort St. John, Hazelton, Kamloops, Kelowna, Merritt, Nanaimo, Port Hardy, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Surrey, Vancouver, Victoria, and Williams Lake. A Virtual IJC serves people in other locations around BC.
Inspired and guided by community and experts
The heart of BCFNJC’s story lies in the strength and wisdom that it draws from the communities it serves. It began in 2016 as a collective of First Nations leaders seeking solutions to a fairer justice system. Today, those leaders comprise most of the Council’s board and work closely with staff to bring the strategy to life.
The Foundation and the provincial government co-funded the community consultations that led to the BC First Nations Justice Strategy, which involved First Nations leaders, Indigenous organizations and criminal justice experts across BC. Many of the ideas, opinions, and experiences shared in these consultations are reflected in the Justice Strategy.
“We have spent the first five years as an organization establishing a network of Indigenous Justice Centres, launching a first-of-its-kind diversion program, and laying the groundwork for our front-line services,” says Hemas Kla-Lee-Lee-Kla (Kory Wilson), Chair of BCFNJC.
“BCFNJC is honoured to continue serving all Indigenous people in BC and to deepen our relationships with the people and communities that we exist to serve.”
Flexible, multi-year funding crucial to the work
The team at BCFNJC collectively bring decades of professional and lived experience, but the organization itself is still new and has had to build its systems and relationships from the ground up. Building relationships with Indigenous people around the province who have the experience and knowledge needed for this unprecedented project, and designing and rolling out new services, takes time, and resources. To help their work to thrive, the Law Foundation’s $15 million, five-year grant is flexible and can be directed to wherever it’s needed most.
Creating a new model for diversion from the criminal system
A key priority for the BCFNJC is to reduce the overincarceration of Indigenous people through diversion. The BCFNJC recently signed an agreement with the RCMP to create a new Indigenous Diversion Centre in Prince George. A first in Canada, the new centre aims to intervene early to prevent re-offences, to protect the community, and to provide participants with an alternate path where they commit to a diversion plan and access supports to reintegrate with community.
Through a wide variety of programming, the BCFNJC is pursuing transformative change for Indigenous communities – and the Law Foundation is honoured to be an early supporter of BCFNJC and its work.
