OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 13, 2015) - Today, Justice Minister and Attorney General Peter MacKay announced funding for projects carried out by the Fédération des Associations de juristes d'expression française de common law (FAJEF) and by six provincial Associations de juristes d'expression française (AJEF). Their mandate involves promoting access to justice in French within the Canadian justice system and ensuring the equality of both official languages in the courts of those provinces that follow the tradition of common law.
The majority of the funding comes from the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund and supports the objectives of the government's Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018.
Quick facts
- Total approved funding for the FAJEF and member AJEFs is $8,250,803 for fiscal years 2014-15 to 2017-18.
- Most of the funding for these projects comes from the Department of Justice's Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund. Other funding comes from the Victims Fund and the Supporting Families Fund.
- In its Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018, the government emphasizes education, immigration and communities. This includes public legal information in both official languages and training for justice professionals to help them better serve litigants in their preferred official language.
- FAJEF project
Promoting and sharing information and expertise at the national level regarding training and the pillars of legal information ($86,000).
- AJEF projects
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | TOTAL | |
| AJEF - British Columbia (various projects) | $200,500 | $93,750 | $93,750 | $99,750 | $487,750 |
| AJEF - Alberta (various projects) | $333,208 | $290,091 | $245,016 | $239,054 | $1,107,369 |
| AJEF - Saskatchewan (various projects) | $202,543 | $250,000 | $206,463 | $206,463 | $865,469 |
| AJEF - Ontario (various projects) | $1,156,120 | $1,201,880 | $1,068,000 | $1,084,000 | $4,510,000 |
| AJEF - New Brunswick (various projects) | $108,391 | $59,679 | --- | --- | $168,070 |
| AJEF - Nova Scotia | $290,622 | $274,332 | $246,933 | $214,258 | $1,026,145 |
Quotes
"Our Government recognizes the importance of promoting access to justice for Canadians in both official languages. The work of the provincial Associations de juristes d'expression française (AJEF) is important in facilitating interpretation of common law in French across Canada. We are proud that the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund, the Victims Fund, and the Supporting Families Fund are promoting the work of the AJEFs to improve the experience of jurists working in common law and of those who they serve."
Peter MacKay
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
"The AJEFs across Canada are among the best examples of responding to the needs of a bilingual country. Like our efforts at the federal level with the Roadmap for Official Languages, these efforts in the legal communities at the national level and in the provinces and territories show strong professional and community solidarity."
Shelly Glover
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
"By informing and directing persons involved in the justice system to the appropriate services, as well as providing tools to justice professionals, projects funded by the Department of Justice Canada - such as the Ottawa Legal Information Centre; CliquezJustice.ca, a French legal information portal; and Jurisource.ca, a virtual library of legal resources for legal sector professionals - represent concrete solutions that ensure equal access to justice in Canada's two official languages."
François Baril
President, Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario (AJEFO)
Related products
Backgrounder: funding details
Related links
Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund
Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018
Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario (AJEFO)
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Backgrounder
Project Details
National:
FÉDÉRATION DES ASSOCIATIONS DE JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DE COMMON LAW
- Promotion et partage d'information et d'expertise au niveau national reliés aux piliers de l'information juridique et de la formation (Promoting and sharing information and expertise at the national level regarding training and the pillars of legal information)
$86,000.00
The project consists of nation-wide activities to showcase and promote the justice sector with a view to informing Francophone minority communities and the legal community of developments, needs and issues related to access to justice in French. Information, expertise sharing and training activities will also be encouraged to improve access to justice in French.
Provincial:
ASSOCIATION DES JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DE L'ALBERTA
- Centre de justice de proximité en Alberta (Alberta Local Justice Centre)
$1,039,420.00
The project will establish a justice information hub in Alberta for the francophone community, that will also offer services in English if required. The hub will offer services such as legal information, referrals, information sessions on legal topics, and support services for individuals. The organization will also build and maintain a resource library, continue to develop partnerships and promote the hub. Services will be provided by a variety of means, including face-to-face, by phone, by email and via the Internet.
- Formation en médiation familiale pour les juristes d'expression française de l'Alberta (Family mediation training for Francophone justice professionals in Alberta (Supporting Families Fund)
$56,008.00
The purpose of the project is to offer training opportunities in family mediation, in French, to professionals in the justice sector and other sectors who work with families experiencing separation or divorce. A trainer's manual and a participant manual will be adapted to the Alberta justice system. This project will meet a need expressed by legal professionals and those in related sectors who wish to increase their capacities to offer legal or extrajudicial services more effectively in French. This project seeks to address the lack of tools, resources and training in family mediation in French in Alberta.
- National Victims of Crime Awareness Week 2014 and 2015 (Victims Fund)
$11,941.00
During National Victims of Crime Awareness Week 2014, the organization offered workshops on cyberbullying and on subjects for seniors, a dinner talk on restorative justice and a public legal education and information capsule which aired on CBC. During the 2015 Victims Week, training on cyberbullying will be offered to young mentors from francophone schools. The organization will also distribute an information kit on bullying and harassment. Victims Week projects provide an opportunity to raise awareness about victim issues and about the programs, services and laws in place to help victims of crime and their families.
ASSOCIATION DES JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DE LA COLOMBIE-BRITANNIQUE
- Service d'information juridique en ligne (Online legal information service)
$58,750.00
The project will create an online legal information service for the francophone community of British Columbia. Every two months, the organization will deliver 1.5-hour information sessions through a virtual classroom where participants will eventually be able to use features such as chat sessions, videoconferencing and file sharing. The topics of the sessions will be based on requests received from the francophone community of the province.
- Formation terminologique des intervenants juridiques (Terminology training for justice stakeholders)
$178,000.00
The project will offer French terminology training sessions in criminal matters to justice stakeholders such as paralegals, translators and interpreters in British Columbia who do not have access to this type of training and who are called upon to assist litigants involved in legal proceedings. The training includes theoretical and practical workshops as well as online activities.
- Accès à la justice en français au Yukon (Access to justice in French in Yukon)
$23,000.00
The organization will establish contacts with francophone organizations in Yukon in order to undertake an analysis of the local needs in terms of access to justice in French. The project will provide information to help promote access to justice services in an efficient and effective manner to the francophone community in the Yukon.
- Formation terminologique des avocats (Terminology training for lawyers)
$203,000.00
The project will offer a French terminology course in criminal matters to defence lawyers of British Columbia. The training includes an online learning module on French criminal terminology and a practical workshop consisting of a moot court where participants have the opportunity to use the terminology learned in the online module. As youth and newcomers participate in the moot court by acting as jurors, they will also learn about language rights related to criminal law.
- FAQ interactive (Interactive FAQs)
$25,000.00
To answer the many information requests received every year on legal subjects, the organization will undertake a project that will involve researching and writing approximately one hundred "Frequently Asked Questions" related to popular justice topics of interest to the general public. The Frequently Asked Questions will be posted on the website of the organization and on CliquezJustice.ca, and will contribute to increasing awareness and knowledge about the justice system.
ASSOCIATION DES JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DU NOUVEAU-BRUNSWICK
- Séances d'information pour les composantes de l'Association des universités du troisième âge du Nouveau-Brunswick (AUTANB) (Information sessions for members of the Association des universités du troisième âge du Nouveau-Brunswick)
$17,358.00
The organization will prepare supporting material and hold 13 information sessions designed for seniors in New Brunswick. These sessions will cover topics such as language rights, criminal law, human rights and other areas of law of interest to senior citizens, and aim to increase the legal knowledge of seniors.
- Cours de formation pour les juristes francophones de la province (Training courses for francophone justice professionals in the province)
$12,993.00
The organisation will offer professional development courses in French as part of the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development in order to meet a need identified by the Bar of New Brunswick. Eight courses were offered to justice professionals in the fall of 2014 and eight will be offered in the winter of 2015. The training will help to compensate for the lack of training available in French as part of the Mandatory Continuing Professional Development.
- Modèles d'actes juridiques (Outils du praticien): mise à jour (Models of legal acts (Practician's Tools): update
$110,000.00
The project will update a reference tool that allows legal professionals to have access to models of legal acts and completed samples of court forms in French. The update is necessary due to changes in some rules of procedures and court forms. It will improve access to justice in French, since practitioners will be better able to provide services in both official languages.
- Séances d'information pour les jeunes francophones dans les écoles secondaires du N.-B. (Information sessions for young Francophones in high schools in New Brunswick)
$27,719.00
The project aims to convey legal information to young Francophones of the province through information sessions in high schools. The organization will cover topics such as sexual exploitation on the Internet, bullying in schools and youth abuse. The information sessions, delivered in plain language, will aim to improve access to legal information in French and legal knowledge among youth.
ASSOCIATION DES JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DE LA NOUVELLE-ÉCOSSE
- Projet pilote d'implantation d'un Centre de justice de proximité en Nouvelle-Écosse (Pilot project to establish a Local Justice Centre in Nova Scotia)
$1,026,145.00
The project will establish a bilingual justice information hub in Halifax, where services such as legal information, referrals, information sessions on legal topics, training for justice professionals, and support services for individuals will be provided. The organization will also develop tools and build a reference library for the clientele, continue to develop partnerships and promote the hub.
ASSOCIATION DES JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DE L'ONTARIO
- Portail national Jurisource.ca (Jurisource.ca national portal)
$887,000.00
The organization will continue its work on Jurisource.ca, an Internet portal that provides access to legal and jurilinguistic resources for justice professionals in French-language minority communities in Canada. The organization will develop and add content to the site, maintain its relationships with existing partners and recruit new ones, promote the site, and add necessary technological improvements to it, while taking into consideration the needs identified by training professionals. The organization will also undertake evaluation activities of the site.
- CliquezJustice.ca, Centre d'expertise nationale en information juridique simplifiée (CliquezJustice.ca, national centre of expertise in simplified legal information)
$1,971,000.00
The project aims to expand CliquezJustice.ca, a Canada-wide public legal education and information portal designed to develop the legal capacity of Francophone minority communities and help them become legally equipped to face a legal challenge. The organization will continue to research, develop and add new content related to various legal issues in several areas of law, advertise and promote the site, conduct activities to ensure that the site meets the needs of Francophone minority communities, undertake an evaluation to assess the impact of the site, and undertake technological improvements to the site.
- Centre de justice de proximité d'Ottawa (Ottawa Local Justice Centre)
$1,575,000.00
The project will establish a bilingual justice information hub in Ottawa, which will provide services such as legal information, referrals, information sessions on legal topics, and support services for individuals who have to go to court. The organization will also develop tools for the clientele, continue to develop partnerships and promote the hub.
- Formation approfondie en médiation familiale: contexte culturel (In-depth training in family mediation: cultural context)
$77,000.00
This extensive training project targets professionals who want to deepen their knowledge of family mediation in French, especially within an ethnocultural context. The topics covered during this training may include cultural dynamics in conflict and conflict resolution; family dynamics after separation/divorce; high-conflict situations in a cultural context; cultural differences in the context of negotiating the parenting plan; issues in child development about the family reorganization and parenting plans in a cultural context; and abuse issues and control within an ethnocultural context.
ASSOCIATION DES JURISTES D'EXPRESSION FRANÇAISE DE LA SASKATCHEWAN
- Centre d'information et de ressources juridiques (Legal information and resource centre)
$865,469.00
The project will establish a justice information hub in Saskatchewan for the Francophone community. The organization will offer services such as legal information, referrals, information sessions on legal topics, training for justice professionals, and support services for individuals. The organization will also develop tools and build a reference library, continue to develop partnerships and promote the hub. Services will be provided by a variety of means, including face-to-face, by phone, or by internet.
Contact Information:
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice
613-992-4621
Media Relations Office
Department of Justice
613-957-4207