Archives: Grants (page 8)

Black Law Students’ Association of Canada (BLSA Canada) will host its annual conference benefiting Black law students from across the country. BLSA Canada aims to foster connections between Black law students and legal professionals to promote professional development, legal education, and cultural awareness within the legal sector.

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Northeastern Ontario will create a Justice Navigation Project to provide practical and legal supports to people in northeastern Ontario in contact with the justice system. Justice Navigators will help approximately 100 people each year with legal aid applications, accessing diversion and other programming, and participating in Pre-Sentence and Gladue reports. Project trainings and a manual will be developed to help sustain and replicate the project. The objective of the project is to improve people’s understanding of their legal rights, produce more positive outcomes, and create efficiencies for the courts.

Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario’s Court Support Program in Thunder Bay supports women and gender-diverse individuals with: court accompaniment; safety planning; and information about court dates, legal processes and terminology; and failure to appear and related administrative charges. It also offers assistance with navigating the process of obtaining legal aid, connecting with legal representation, and with a range of services, including mental health support, housing resources, and substance abuse treatment.

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Peterborough (EFSP) will expand its justice services to support marginalized people in Peterborough and area. EFSP will develop: a pilot program to increase access to community alternatives at pre-sentence by diverting matters from the court; and an outreach plan to reach criminalized individuals who are unhoused and face barriers to accessing supports. The objective of the project is to support people who face multiple, complex challenges to complete court requirements.

Healing of the Seven Generations’ Dehsahsodre Bail Release and Supervision Program, located in the Region of Waterloo, offers an alternative to typical bail release programs with a focus on reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system by facilitating culturally informed programming and allowing more people to remain in the community while awaiting hearings.

The John Howard Society of Simcoe & Muskoka will expand its digital access to justice program to rural and remote communities in Simcoe & Muskoka: Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Midland, Penetanguishene, and Collingwood/ Wasaga. The rotating, weekly clinics will offer support for disclosure requests, digital access to court appearances, connection to legal and duty counsel, and record suspension applications. Benefiting vulnerable and disproportionally criminalized populations within rural and remote communities, the objective of this project is to support participation in the justice system and to reduce discrimination and criminalization.

The Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation will work with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) communities to set up Starlink systems in 29 communities so they may access remote fly-in court. Travel distances and unreliable internet connections across NAN territory prevent matters before the courts from progressing in a timely manner. By setting up reliable internet and virtual courts, the objective of this project is to increase access to and timeliness of court proceedings, benefiting the individuals involved and the justice system broadly. The project will also develop and provide legal education workshops, materials, and presentations across the communities.

Sisters in Sync will partner with KnowledgeFlow Cyber Security Foundation and Victim Support and Services of Hamilton to introduce We’ve Got You Sis, a program with a multi-disciplinary approach focusing on community outreach and capacity building to encourage disclosure from Black girls and women who have experienced sexual assault, discrimination, and/or hate incidents. The objective of the project is premised on the hypothesis that if individuals are given the opportunity and tools to work on their self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and resilience, coupled with training on self-advocacy, they will feel empowered to access support and disclose their experiences.

Toronto Metropolitan University, School of Journalism’s Canada Press Freedom Project is an initiative of J-Source, which is a website managed by Canada’s two largest post-secondary journalism programs located at Toronto Metropolitan University and Carleton University that covers media, labour, business, education, ethics, and more. CPFP’s Legal Education for Media Project will develop and produce a series of legal guides and educational tools to assist journalists, students, and researchers with a better understanding and improved navigation of press freedom rights.

Innocence Ottawa at the University of Ottawa, a student-involved innocence project that helps the wrongly convicted in Ontario who are seeking exoneration, will implement an outreach project for Indigenous people in prisons to make them aware of its services. The objective of the project is to increase the number of applications received from Indigenous individuals seeking review of their convictions.