Congress 2019
Congress 2019
2019 Criminal Justice Award Recipient
Reflections on the 2019 Canadian CriminalJustice Association Conference
Thanks to the Criminal Justice Association of Ontario's student scholarship I was fortunate enough to attend the 2019 Canadian Criminal Justice Association Conference co-hosted by the Société de Criminologie du Québec in Québec City. I was able to do so alongside some incredibly intelligent and thoughtful colleagues, some of whom I met for the first time at the conference, and others I had not seen in some time. For the relationships I was able to form, I am very grateful.
At this year's conference, the breadth of subjects discussed by individuals from across the country and beyond made for an environment in which concerns, ideas, experiences, and practices could be shared amongst attendees in the hopes of advancing knowledge and improving the criminal justice system, in both official languages of course. I know this from firsthand experience. Indeed, I myself was able to present my research at this conference and benefitted greatly from audience members and copresenters posing questions and offering suggestions and critique for my future projects.
Moreover, the many keynote speakers helped create this environment, bringing with them many decades of experience in advocacy, corrections, the courts, justice policy, and many others. While I would like to mention all the wonderful speakers, I must however single out two whom I thought particularly thought-provoking: Drs. Anthony Doob and Patti LaBoucane-Benson. Both of these speakers highlighted particularly important subjects for hundreds of attendees, presenting a larger picture of their topics in order to better understand the reality of Canadian society and the justice system which ought to serve it. Dr. Doob spoke about the sometimes erratic evolution of criminal justice policy in Canada, particularly in the last 50 years or so. Dr. LaBoucane-Benson on the other hand explained in great detail how historical harms to indigenous peoples can be passed on through generations but also laid out manners in which this trauma could be overcome through the restoring of balance.
In looking at and analyzing these larger pictures, these speakers were able to synthesize a great deal of knowledge in a manner which was both accessible, and tremendously compelling. In this way, I believe all who attended gained valuable insight into the importance of contextual, holistic understanding when attempting to analyze the workings of our criminal justice system whether it be political, historic, socio-economic, or otherwise.
Dr. Doob concluded in regards to criminal justice reform, "if you don't know where you're going, you might not get there". I believe that through this conference we have gotten closer to establishing the endpoints on our journey of criminal justice reform. It is my hope that the next 100 years of criminal justice can capitalize on the immense knowledge contained within the walls of this conference and beyond. Should this happen, I believe that the system can continue to develop and evolve in the best interests of all Canadians.
Brendyn Johnson,
Recipient of the CJAO's 2019 Criminal Justice Award - November 2019