About Us

History of NAACJ

In 1969, the Ouimet Commission on Corrections,Toward Unity: Criminal Justice and Corrections, called for a rehabilitative, not punitive, approach to corrections in Canada. Not too long thereafter, the Sauvé Report of the Task Force on the Role of the Private Sector in Criminal Justice, “Community involvement in criminal justice” published in 1977 further recommended the increased role of citizen involvement and formalized organizations within criminal justice and corrections across federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions. Under this backdrop, the Executive Director of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association (CCJA), William (Bill) T. McGrath, led the development of an “experiment” in 1975 that would bring together private sector agencies working in social justice and corrections to share information and provide support.

Under the auspices of CCJA, Mr. McGrath, who was aptly deemed the “Godfather of criminal justice interest groups” in Canada, co-ordinated what would become the NAACJ network: the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice. Now, approximately 50 years later, many of the following 21 founding agencies remain a member of the Association, although they may operate under a different name:

Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies
Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police Inc.
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
Canadian Association of Professional Criminologists
Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges
Canadian Association of Social Workers
Canadian Correctional Chaplains’ Association
Canadian Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Canadian Council on Social Development
Canadian Criminology and Corrections Association
Canadian Foundation on Alcohol and Drug Dependencies
Canadian Mental Health Association
Canadian Section, International Association of Penal Law
Canadian Psychiatric Association
Canadian Psychological Association
Church Council on Justice and Corrections
John Howard Society of Canada
National Association of Friendship Centres
National Institute on Mental Retardation
St. Leonard’s Society of Canada
The Salvation Army

NAACJ was born. Other “visionaries and reformers” involved at the time included Bonnie Diamond, Pat Graham, Hans Mohr, Ken Hatt, Lucien Morin, Dr. Reverend David McCord, Brian Crane and Frank Miller. With instrumental support from community builder and mediator Dr. Ben Hoffman, and then Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Canada Jim McLatchie, NAACJ grew in members, partners and autonomy over the 1980s, thanks in part to the inception of the Solicitor General for Canada’s sustaining funding grant for NVOs.

In 1990, NAACJ published a discussion paper Making Justice Real: A Socially Responsible Approach to Justice, which explored the philosophical elements of a social responsibility approach to justice; the principles of criminal justice; and, proposed guidelines for practice, all in an effort to stimulate more just and effective measures. This socially responsible approach to criminal justice inspired a vision for NAACJ for many years to come.

In 2000, then President of NAACJ and Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) Kim Pate led NAACJ’s incorporation by Letters Patent as a not-for-profit (NFP) corporation. By 2004, NAACJ’s membership policy articulated membership criteria for member organizations based on the federal government’s Voluntary Sector Accord (2001). Later in 2013, owing in part to the new Canada Corporations Act, then President Allen Benson led the continuance NAACJ as a federal NFP corporation.

Mission and Objectives

The mission of the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice (NAACJ) is to enhance the capacity of member organizations to contribute to a just, fair, equitable and effective justice system. Its objects are to:

• Contribute to the education of its member organizations, other organizations from the governmental and voluntary sector and the general public through activities that share and generate knowledge, information, ideas and values, in relation to current and emerging criminal justice issues.
• Contribute to the capacity of the member organizations to carry out their purposes through activities that share and generate expertise and to serve as a catalyst for action by member agencies and to provide collective support for actions undertaken by individual member agencies where feasible.
• Support the activities of its member organizations in the development of policy related to criminal justice by promoting the role and importance of the member organizations in consultation and policy forms with the federal government.

What we do

Activities

NAACJ achieves its mandate by:

• Serving, supporting and promoting the member organizations;
• Developing conferences, workshops and events about current and emerging criminal justice issues;
• Providing information and research that contributes to community and member education;
• Preparing fact sheets, backgrounders, briefs and summaries on criminal justice issues;
• Liaising with the criminal and social justice community, including federal government partners;
• Coordinating, facilitating and supporting federal submissions and conferences; and
• Sharing and disseminating timely information and knowledge generally.

How We Engage

Formal and informal engagement opportunities with partners are central to our role. These traditions not only embody the collaboration and communication within the Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector, but also provide a valuable opportunity to maintain links across sectors and fields.

The annual Joint Policy Workshops co-hosted by NAACJ, Public Safety Canada and the Department of Justice have been an annual tradition for many years. Representatives from across sectors, jurisdictions and disciplines come together to share information and discuss emerging issues in Canadian criminal justice, in order to increase our individual and collective capacity to provide increasingly effective policy and service.

Over the years, the annual conference has explored these topics:

• Crime Prevention and the Young Offenders Act
• Engaging the Community in Criminal Justice and Corrections
• Decarceration: A Progress Report
• Examining Sentencing Trends: Deterrence, Denunciation, Discretion
• The Implications of Recognizing FAS/FAE as a Human Rights Issue
• Advancing Social Inclusion: The Implications for Criminal Law Policy, Policy and Litigation
• Human Rights of People with Mental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System
• Balancing Human Rights and National Security
• Crime Prevention for At-Risk Youth
• Moving Forward with Aboriginal Justice: Opportunities and Challenges
• Mental Health and Canada's Justice System: Connecting the Dots
• Community Empowerment through Social Enterprise
• Substance Abuse Solutions: Promising Practices to Address the Needs of People with Substance Abuse Issues in the Criminal Justice System

NAACJ and its members have also held regular meetings with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) since 1998. Semi-annual meetings among NAACJ, its members and CSC officials, as well as partners from the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) and more recently Public Safety Canada (PS) promote information sharing, communication and collaboration around corrections and community corrections across our sectors.

Our partnership with CSC also allows NAACJ to participate in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)/Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)/Parole Board of Canada (PBC) Public Safety (PS) Joint Committee on Community Corrections as well as the NAACJ/CSC Joint Community Corrections Working Group (JCCWG).

In 2012, NAACJ and CSC reaffirmed their willingness to continue to work together to enhance services in Canada by renewing the Terms of Reference including our Principles of Collaboration.  In 2009, this Protocol for Partnership was ratified by the NAACJ/CSC Joint Community Corrections Working Group, and later in 2011, we developed a joint work plan to guide our activities to 2013. 

NAACJ's Executive Director was appointed to the National Selection Committee for the Office of the Correctional Investigator for Canada's Ed McIsaac Human Rights in Corrections Award in 2009. The Award was created in 2008 to commemorate the work and dedication of those who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to improving corrections and and protecting the human rights of the incarcerated. Recipients include:

• Jean-Claude Bernheim, Laval University (2012)
• Kim Pate, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (2011)
• Mary Campbell, Public Safety Canada (2010)
• Michael Jackson, University of British Columbia (2009)

Strategic Priorities

In 2010, NAACJ engaged professional consultants One World Inc. to develop a Strategic Review process in order to clarify the Association's role and strengthen its capacity. With Public Safety Canada's support, NAACJ was able to engage its members and partners to determine its directions to 2014: