On the heels of two high-profile cases involving Indigenous victims of crime — and victims of the justice system — Manitoba Chief Justice Glenn Joyal says judicial reconciliation is high on the priority list for courts in this province.
It’s not the first time since being appointed to the post in 2011 that he’s sat down with media to give a ‘state-of-the-court’-type interview.
“We’re in a time where institutions are being questioned, some would say even attacked,” Joyal said.
“That’s obviously something that we’re concerned about, not because we can’t be held to account. We have to be held to account, but we want the proper information, obviously, out there to be in hand if you’re going to criticize and assess us.”
Since the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and 94 calls to action, there’s been increased focus on systemic racism in provincial and federal institutions where First Nations, Inuit and Métis people receive inferior treatment to what’s normal for non-Indigenous people. Along with health care, the justice system has faced some of the heaviest criticism.
“In Winnipeg, I maintain we’re ground zero,” said Joyal, who was appointed to the top spot on King’s Bench in 2011. “We have some real specific and particular pressing challenges that we have to face and we have to, I think, face up to the fact that we need to make our institution, the judiciary, more trustworthy.
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Part of that was the creation of a Truth Reconciliation Access Committee in 2017 consisting of judges and Indigenous community members.
“We’re there to listen. We’re there to absorb what it is they’re telling us about what it is they don’t trust about our system or what their experiences have been,” he told Global News.
The benefits of that could be seen at the trial of now-convicted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki this past summer. Victims’ families and advocates had high praise for the court for involving them in the process in a way they felt respected.
“The key, though, is going to be how do we do that in cases big and small, in a manner that normalizes what I’m saying is hopefully a new openness,” Joyal said.
The vindication of three Saulteaux men from Pinaymootang First Nation, who were wrongfully convicted of a 1973 murder in Winnipeg, marked another step down the reconciliation path.
After new trials were ordered by the federal justice minister, Joyal acquitted Clarence Woodhouse, Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse 50 years after their convictions, and offered each an apology for the miscarriage of justice — something Innocence Canada wants to see more of.
The advocacy group is calling on the federal government to form a task force to identify other wrongfully convicted Indigenous people, noting the disproportionate number of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada’s jails and prisons.
Timing is tricky as calls for judicial reconciliation come at the same time as public demand grows for a tougher approach to combat crime.
“I’m not saying that the system can’t be improved. I’m not saying that politicians can’t improve the system, but judges themselves can, I think, defend and improve the system by doing what we can internally, but also better communicating through public information and education, what it is we do.”