Canada Black Justice Strategy Project

Project Timeline and Highlights

July 2023

Jaku Konbit is one of twelve organizations out of several thousand across Canada, selected by the Government of Canada’s Department of Justice to participate in the development of the Canada Black Justice Strategy (CBJS), an unprecedented nation-wide comprehensive grassroots-involved approach towards addressing the pressing issues of anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination entrenched within the criminal justice system.

August 2023

Jaku Konbit accepts the pivotal responsibility of spearheading and leading African-Caribbean-Black (ACB) community engagement and fact gathering anchored in the National Capital Region of Ottawa-Gatineau but extending and representing a wider Eastern Ontario catchment area.

September 2023

Jaku Konbit had already hit the ground running, having assembled a high-performing team including diversity, equity and inclusion subject area experts, and launched the project in both official languages.

  • A strategic implementation plan was put into play, identifying and engaging over 16 local community organizations in a robust consultation exercise.
  •  The community response was equally energized with over 160 residents engaged, far exceeding the 120-participant sample size that the project required.

October 2023

Jaku Konbit completes and submits ahead of schedule a comprehensive reflecting valuable firsthand accounts and input from Black youth, adults, seniors, police officers, lawyers, inmates, social workers, correctional workers, and other related professional service providers. The report was also singled out by Justice Canada staff for its efficiency, efficacy and quality.

July 2024

Jaku Konbit welcomes the report of the CBJS external Steering Group entitled, A Roadmap for Transformative Change: Canada’s Black Justice Strategy, which sets out 114 recommendations to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination.

  • Notably, Jaku Konbit is mentioned three times in the report including two direct quotes, one related to ‘victims and witnesses’, and the other on ‘the system’s responsiveness’

THE NEXT STEP

Justice Canada will develop and release a government response to the Steering Group’s Report. This plan will outline the actions that the Government of Canada will undertake to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system, including as victims of crime.

Jaku Konbit remains engaged in the follow-up work on the Canada Black Justice Strategy.