New tool aims to make justice system more just for Black New Brunswickers (Canada)

Impact of race and culture assessments are widely used in N.S., but relatively new to N.B.

When Edva Mascary pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in February, defence lawyer Mathieu Boutet asked for the usual pre-sentence report to help inform the judge about his client and help ensure the sentence was appropriate.

But Boutet also asked for another report to give the Moncton judge insight into his client’s life before sentencing him: an impact of race and culture assessment.

Mascary is Black, originally from Haiti, and has what Boutet describes as a “very, very difficult” background.

Boutet couldn’t share details of that background, partly because Mascary has yet to be sentenced and partly because “it would be impossible for me to speak to things that, well, they're just not a reality in my world.”

The assessments are specialized pre-sentence reports produced by trained assessors. They're designed to inform judges about the experiences of people of African descent in Canada, filling in gaps left by existing reports completed by probation officers.

The reports are similar to Gladue reports, designed to inform courts about the experiences of Indigenous people. Both groups are statistically overrepresented in Canada’s justice system.

The culture and race impact reports are relatively new to New Brunswick, with only a handful having been completed since federal funding started in 2024.

Social worker Robert Wright pioneered the reports in Nova Scotia, where they became formalized after a landmark decision in 2014.

In that case, a Black Nova Scotian teen referred to as “X” had been convicted of attempted murder, and prosecutors asked for the youth to be sentenced as an adult and given a life term.

According to the judge’s decision on the matter, prosecutors were convinced “X” was “a criminally entrenched, sophisticated youth” who might be resistant to rehabilitation.

With the “lens” provided by the report, the judge found the youth was an “immature, conflicted teenager” who, although he had committed “a shocking crime,” had a good shot at rehabilitation, which would almost certainly be derailed in an adult prison.

Today, Wright says the 2014 case of “X” is one of the most dramatic in terms of impact of the assessments, because of the stark difference in how adults and youths are sentenced. But he has seen other results.

In addition to informing judges, the reports can be “transformative for the subject of the assessment,” Wright said.

“It helps the individual to gain certain insights into the trajectory of their lives” and how race and racism have affected it.

The reports help judges adhere to the principles of sentencing, which ask that it be individualized and proportional and consider the potential for rehabilitation.

According to Justice Canada, impact of race and culture assessments may recommend alternatives to incarceration or suggest “culturally appropriate accountability measures” during incarceration.

The reports follow people into the correctional system, where they can have an effect on programming available.

“Some people think that impact of race and culture assessments are designed to give people a race-based discount on a sentence,” Wright said. “That's not the case. It's really about crafting a more appropriate sentence, given the history of systemic racism.”

The reports are "intervening in a space in which the justice system has already been identified as being unjust,” Wright said.

According to a 2022 study by Justice Canada, Black people are overrepresented in the population of people accused of crimes and of those convicted. They also tend to receive longer and more severe sentences.

Impact of race and culture assessments have been funded federally in New Brunswick for just over two years, but only a handful have been completed, said Chantal Landry, executive director of the province’s legal aid services commission.

“Our courts here in New Brunswick are now recognizing the importance of the use of that report,” she said, referring to defence lawyers, judges, and prosecutors.

There are still kinks in the process, which became apparent after Boutet requested an impact of race and culture assessments for his client in February.

First, Boutet himself misunderstood whose responsibility it was to hire an assessor, causing a delay. In Nova Scotia, ordering an assessment is the responsibility of the courts. But in New Brunswick, it is up to defence lawyers to make the assessments happen for their clients.

Then, during a hearing in April where the delay in getting Mascary’s assessment came to light, a Crown prosecutor questioned the appropriateness of the report.

She said she believed the assessments were only applicable to Black Nova Scotians, or people from historically Black communities. The judge dismissed the misconception.

The assessments are very relevant for newcomers, said Wright, and are starting to be used with people from other visible minority groups.

“Whether you come from people who've been here for 400 years, or whether you just got off a plane to arrive here, the way racism works, it treats you the same way,” Wright said.

Both Boutet and Landry are confident that the delivery of the assessments in New Brunswick will get smoother as the process becomes more common. And there are signs that the reports are being requested more frequently.

Michel Ndiom, a trained assessor working in New Brunswick, said that after completing just one assessment each year in New Brunswick in 2024 and 2025, he’s on track to complete at least four this year.

Increasing use of the assessments will foster a better informed criminal justice system, said Wright, and ultimately “will improve that system for all Canadians.”

So... They're making the Justice system 'more just' for some... But not for all... Sounds a bit racist.

If you're white and had a crappy life... No soft sentence for you... But a soft sentence for others??? Sounds more like Political Wokeness run amuck.

One thing is for sure... Robert Wright will benefit from all this nonsense because he 'specializes' in these 'assessments'... And you guessed it... He's black.

BTW the reporter --- Erica Butler ???

They’re not being held in chains in Canada. They’re free to travel. If it’s so racist perhaps they should move to one of the many black majority nations around the globe. Surely their lives will be better there. Right?

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