Cowichan's restorative justice society looking for funds as caseload increases

The use of restorative justice in dealing with criminal cases in the Cowichan Valley is on the rise.

Suzanne Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Cowichan Restorative Justice Society, told North Cowichan's committee of the whole at its meeting on Dec. 12 that the society's case load has more than doubled over the last year, and expectations are that it will continue to rise.

She said the CRJS worked on 12 active cases in 2022 and that number is closer to 30 so far in 2023.

"Restorative justice programs have recently mushroomed all over Canada," Anderson said.

"It's understood and accepted that restorative justice is a better way to handle criminal cases than to put people through the criminal justice system, which is a revolving door that sees people going in and out of jail. The recidivism (the tendency of a convicted criminal to re-offend) rate for those dealt with through restorative justice is known to be marginally what it is for the criminal justice system."

Restorative justice, which works on referrals from the police or the community, offers a forum where all parties involved can talk about how an action impacted them and decide on restitution that fits with the offending action, with the offender receiving no criminal record.

The restorative justice process can be used for a variety of issues and will see different outcomes for different offences.

It is often a quicker process than the criminal justice system, and is more likely to see immediate and substantial restitution, like payment for damages or changes in behaviour.

Restorative justice can lead to an appropriate outcome for a number of what many consider fairly minor offences, including theft or shoplifting, school fights or cyber bullying, and neighbour disputes or dogs in hot cars.

Anderson told council that the CRJS is volunteer based and its services are offered at no charge.

She said that, considering the growing work of the society in the Cowichan Valley, the CRJS is estimating its budget for 2024 to be approximately $51,000.

Anderson said the only confirmed funding the organization has for the year so far is $4,000 from the province's community accountability program, and is asking that North Cowichan increase its grant for the year from $7,000 to approximately $26,000 in 2024.

She said the City of Duncan is also being asked to increase its funding for the society to about $8,000 in 2024, and the CRJS will seek the rest of its funding for the year from other grant programs.

Anderson said that while the almost 30 active cases the local society has worked on so far in 2023 probably doesn't seem like much, it's actually quite a lot when compared to restorative justice societies in other jurisdictions that deal with 75 or more cases a year where all their case workers are paid and not volunteers, as is the case with the CRJS.

"We're at the top of our [financial] abilities right now," she said.

"Our funding request is based on North Cowichan's budget and it's a fraction of the cost savings that would benefit RCMP members and taxpayers in time and resources."

Mayor Rob Douglas said the request will be considered as part of the municipality's budget process for 2024.