By Natasha Brown
As one of the two Manitoba representatives on the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters (“Action Committee”), I attended the Summit which took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, from May 25 – May 27 2022. The first day of the Summit was held at the Wanuskewin Educational Centre on the outskirts of Saskatoon. Justice Karakatsanis opened the Summit as Chair.
Some Event Highlights
Infectious Disease physician Dr. Isaac Boguch compared and contrasted the COVID-19 pandemic to access to justice. He identified 6 different fields of comparison:
- We should seek tangible outcomes;
- Identify barriers to effective communication;
- Focus on vulnerable and priority communications and find out what matters to them;
- Be honest and respectful;
- Work with behavioural change, and communications experts, not just policy or legislative experts; and
- Focus on progress not perfection.
Marilyn Poitras of Saskatchewan challenged attendees to imagine new concepts of justice as we engage in Reconciliation in the civil and family contexts. Attendees were then divided into small groups to discuss the topics of how to integrate TRC in our A2J work.
Josh Paterson at the Law Foundation of BC spoke about the challenges facing law foundations in terms of funding existing programs and funding new and much-needed projects as well.
Judge Gerald Morin spoke on the Saskatchewan Cree Court. He mentioned the importance of providing access to courts in Indigenous languages, including criminal court.
Action Committee Reports
The Action Committee released its annual progress report on the Justice Development Goals. The report offers insights on developments in nine areas deemed essential for better access to justice in Canada. This year’s report can be found at:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60804beaba3bc03016513a59/t/62886b596249c613a7f355de/1653107545897/JDGs21_EN.pdf. The detailed results can be found at: https://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/
I wish to thank all of the Manitoba stakeholder organizations who took the time to have their A2J work included in these reports.
The views and opinions expressed in the blogs are the views of their authors, and do not represent the views of the Faculty of Law, or the University of Manitoba. Academic Members of the University of Manitoba are entitled to academic freedom in the context of a respectful working and learning environment.