B.C. Premier David Eby has announced the opening of five new Indigenous Justice Centres, including two on Vancouver Island.
The new centres in Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Surrey and Kelowna add to those already established in Chilliwack, Prince Rupert, Prince George and Merritt, as well as a virtual centre for the province.
Each of the new centres will offer services to Indigenous people facing criminal or child-protection legal matters.
The Victoria and Nanaimo locations have hired lawyers who are working on cases but the physical centres have yet to open.
Speaking from the newly opened Vancouver Justice Centre on Thursday, Eby said making communities safer means addressing the core issues that bring people into conflict with the law and result in them ending up in and out of jail.
In B.C., Indigenous people make up about five per cent of the population but account for about 30 per cent of those incarcerated.
“For Indigenous people in B.C., the solutions to break that cycle are most likely to be successful if they’re culturally grounded,” said Eby.
The centres will help connect Indigenous people dealing with criminal law matters with elders, as well as providing help with services including housing, mental-health and addictions treatment, and employment services, although the range of services will vary based on local needs, the province said.
The centres will also connect clients with services they can’t provide in-house.
Eby called the additional centres an “incredibly important step forward” in making the justice system work better for Indigenous people.
The province worked with the First Nations Justice Council to create the centres.
Council chair Kory Wilson said the five new centres were created in the span of 12 months and a team of lawyers, elders, knowledge keepers and outreach workers was hired.
Wilson thanked the provincial government for collaborating at a rapid pace to create safe, welcoming spaces in communities “that place decision-making back into the hands of communities and provide Indigenous people with access to critical legal and wraparound supports and services.”
The opening of the Indigenous Justice Centres is part of the B.C. First Nations Justice Strategy, which includes 43 actions to change outcomes for Indigenous people.
Attorney General Niki Sharma said the centres can also be sites for dialogue and support for First Nations to develop justice solutions at the community level, partner on local priorities, and expand services.
Over the last year, the existing IJCs have served more than 500 people with legal issues and provided referral services, according to the government.
