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Seventh annual Campagnolo Lecture coming to Courtenay

Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould to speak
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Jody Wilson-Raybould will be the guest speaker at this year’s Campagnolo Lecture, Sept. 27 in Courtenay. Photo supplied

On Thursday, Sept. 27, the Community Justice Centre welcomes Jody Wilson-Raybould, Canada’s first Indigenous Minister of Justice, to present the 7th Annual Campagnolo Lecture on Restorative Justice.

The title of her address is: “Taking a new approach to criminal justice – Reconciliation and restorative justice.”

“This will be a significant and important opportunity to hear how the federal government understands the interaction between the goal of enhancing restorative justice and its role in developing actions for reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations,” said Bruce Curtis, chief administrator of the Community Justice Centre.

North Island College is a partner in the Campagnolo Lectures and provides the opportunity for 25 NIC students to attend the annual lectures without charge.

“The Campagnolo Lectures are important to the community’s understanding of restorative justice and NIC is proud to partner with the Community Justice Centre,” said NIC president John Bowman. “It’s an excellent opportunity for students, and the community, to listen to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General and hear her perspective firsthand.”

The lecture will also include a question and answer period during which the audience will have the opportunity to pose their questions on restorative justice and reconciliation to the minister.

Tickets for the lecture (7:30 p.m. on Sept. 27) are available through the Sid Williams Ticket Office for $25 ($15 for high school students with ID).

There is a dinner in honour of the Campagnolo Lecturer at the Native Sons Hall at 5 p.m. before the lecture, to which residents of the Comox Valley are invited. Tickets are $35 each and are available through the Laughing Oyster Book Shop on 5th Street in Courtenay 250-334-2511 or through the Community Justice Centre 250-334-8101.

The Campagnolo Lectures have attracted significant speakers addressing the role and place of restorative justice in Canada’s development. Over the years, speakers have included, among others:

- Svend Robinson of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria speaking about Mental Health and RJ;

- the former Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin speaking of RJ’s place in restoring right relationships in community;

- Canada’s 26th Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her husband, World President of PEN, Dr. John Ralston Saul who spoke of the significance of RJ in Indigenous relations and the importance of voluntary service in RJ programmes; and

- the former Chief Justice of Yukon Territorial Courts & Chief Negotiator of the Yukon Land Claims Agreement, Barry Stewart who spoke about “Smart Justice.”

The Campagnolo Lectures are the flagship event of the broad public education programme of the Community Justice Centre and usually occur in the late winter/early Spring. The new National Commissioner of the RCMP, Brenda Lucki, has been invited to present the 2019 Lecture.