Access to justice is a fundamental Canadian value and an integral part of a fair and just society. The Government of Canada is committed to providing equal access to justice for Black and racialized people in Canada, and to addressing systemic racism and discrimination in all its forms and in all phases of the criminal justice system.
Today, Gary Anandasangaree, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced funding of $1.4 million over five years as of April 1, 2021, to Legal Aid Ontario to prepare Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs) reports for Black persons and members of other racialized minority groups in Ontario.
IRCAs are pre-sentencing reports that help sentencing judges to better understand the effects of poverty, marginalization, racism, and social exclusion on the offender and their life experience. IRCAs explain the relationship between the offender's lived experiences of racism and discrimination and how they inform the circumstances of the offender, the offence committed, and the offender's experience with the justice system.
The funding will help support Legal Aid Ontario in providing IRCA reports for Black and other racialized offenders. This funding is part of the federal government's commitment to address the overrepresentation of Black and racialized people in Canada's criminal justice system, and to improve access to justice.
