Mr. Speaker, to make our communities safer and stronger, we might consider getting smart on crime.
A more holistic approach would include restorative justice in which offender and victim meet face to face to repair the harm done. It stands up for the victims by engaging both sides to make things right.
Restorative justice is not the solution for every crime. However, it is a tool in many cases that fosters accountability and builds community instead of dividing it.
Restorative justice programs in Victoria and Oak Bay work collaboratively with the police to address select criminal cases through this constructive reconciliation process. It rarely results in reoffending. Instead, it ends in closure.
There are more solutions to crime than prison. If the government is serious about real justice, it will stop appealing to our fears, expand its approach and fund restorative justice programs.