Directors

Lorraine Berzins

Lorraine Berzins worked in Canada’s federal prison system for 14 years.  In 1984, she moved to the voluntary sector as a justice policy analyst and educator with the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC), collaborating for 27 years on national projects in partnership with community organizations and federal, provincial and territorial governments. She has served on the Advisory Council of the Law Commission of Canada.

 

 

Tim Brodhead

Tim Brodhead currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Canadians for a New Partnership, an organization dedicated to creating a new partnerships between First Peoples and all Canadians so that together we can build the strong economy and value-based society that will benefit this and future generations. He was the past-Interim President and CEO of the Trudeau Foundation which supports outstanding individuals who make meaningful contributions to critical public issues. From 1995 to 2011, Tim was President and CEO of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation based in Montreal. The mission of the Foundation is to create a more resilient society by enhancing inclusion, sustainability, and social innovation.

Natalie DeFrietas

Natalie DeFrietas is a registered clinical counsellor, Justice Consultant and educator. As well as offering individual counselling services, she acts as a consultant within the Canadian and US criminal justice systems in various capacities. Additionally, as a teacher within post-secondary institutions researcher, public speaker and advocate, she has a specialized interest in inspiring collaborative partnerships among the education, justice, and mental health systems.

 

Wade Deisman

Wade Deisman is a faculty member in the Department of Criminology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University where he teaches courses in criminological theory, cyber-crime, surveillance, policing, security and intelligence. Prior to moving to the lower mainland, he was a full-time faculty member in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and the Director of the Ottawa-based National Security Working Group. Dr. Deisman is also a trained instructor in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program and has been playing a leading role in the adoption, development and proliferation of the model in the Canadian context.

 

Dave Farthing

Dave Farthing is the Founding Executive Director of YOUCAN, founded in 1997. YOUCAN’s mission is to “equip and inspire others to peacefully resolve conflicts and develop healthy relationships in their communities”. YOUCAN has become one of Canada’s leading national organizations run for youth, by youth. Mr. Farthing’s commitment to youth empowerment and conflict resolution has made a significant difference in the lives of Canadians. Since 1997 YOUCAN has trained over 35,000 youth all over Canada, Colombia, China and Northern Ireland.

 

Danny Graham

Danny Graham, QC, has been a senior criminal justice policy adviser to the governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, Ukraine and Jamaica. He is a thought leader on justice reform, democratic renewal and citizen engagement and has long encouraged the practice of restorative justice. He is the Chief Negotiator for the Province of Nova Scotia in the Mi’kmaq rights and title initiative. He has served as Nova Scotia Liberal Party leader, was a defence lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid and Pink Murray Graham, and worked for Justice Canada to advance prominent national legislative initiatives.

 

Dave Gustafson

David Gustafson is the Executive Director of Community Justice Initiatives Association based in BC. In addition, he is an adjunct professor in Simon Fraser University’s School of Criminology, a therapist in private practice, and a registered clinical counsellor. He developed and directed the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) in Langley, BC, later establishing CJI as the society which administered VORP, the present Victim Offender Mediation Program and other community justice and therapeutic programs.

 

Jennifer Llewellyn

Professor of Law at the Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jennifer Llewellyn’s teaching and research are focused in the areas of restorative justice, truth commissions, international and domestic human rights law and Canadian constitutional law. Professor Llewellyn is currently the Director of the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community University Research Alliance. She is currently directing a project on Reconciliation, Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding which is located at the Kroc Institute for Peace at Notre Dame and is the co-editor of Restorative Justice, Reconciliation and Peacebuilding (Oxford University Press 2014).

 

Michael Maher

Educator, administrator, social justice activist and scripture hobbyist, Michael J. Maher, cfc, is retired, living in Ontario and pursuing sometimes long delayed interests—such as Smart Justice Network—as opportunities present.

 

 

 

Linda Markowsky

Linda Markowsky has been dedicated throughout her life to encouraging social justice, fairness and community change through writing, public speaking and community building initiatives. She began her career in the mental health field, joined the federal government to work on victim’s legislation and alternate justice initiatives, and then became an independent author and advocate on violence against women, and community justice approaches emphasizing multi-sector approaches for safer, healthier communities.

 

Eva Marszewski

Eva Marszewski, L.S.M., Ashoka Fellow, is the Founder and Executive Director of Peacebuilders International (Canada), and an Adjunct Faculty member of Osgoode Hall Law School where she developed and teaches the school’s first course on Restorative Justice. Eva’s concern with the limitations of the legal system led her to adapt the Peacemaking Circles model to the needs of diverse, multi-cultural, urban populations. Eva has won many awards for her work with Circles including the prestigious Law Society Medal, the YMCA Peace Medallion, the Crime Prevention Council ‘s Crime Prevention Award, the Dianne Martin Medal for Social Justice Through Law.

 

Sarah McGrath White

Sarah McGrath White is a lawyer at Nova Scotia Legal Aid, specializing in youth justice. Previously a lawyer at the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, she volunteers at the Halifax Refugee Clinic, and is also on the board of the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia.

 

 

Trevor McGuigan

Trevor McGuigan is dedicated to defending individuals facing charges under the Criminal Code, Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Motor Vehicle Act, and other regulatory offences. He has a wealth of trial experience and has argued at all levels of Court in Nova Scotia. Trevor is a member of the Nova Scotia Criminal Lawyers Association and is a regular contributor to continuing legal education with that organization. He is fuelled by his belief in the presumption of innocence, and the right to a fair trial.

 

Ed McIsaac

Ed McIsaac was the Executive Director, Office of the Correctional Investigator for 28 years. He has experience with House of Commons and Senate Committees, Public Safety Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada and the non-governmental sector. He understands the issues of imprisonment from the perspectives of prisoner, staff and administrator. In 2008, the Correctional Investigator established the Ed McIsaac Human Rights in Corrections Award to recognize his and others’ outstanding contributions to the human rights of people who are incarcerated.

 

Brenda Morrison

Dr. Brenda Morrison is the director of the Centre for Restorative Justice and an assistant professor in the School of Criminology at SFU. She is a social psychologist with field experience in outdoor education, government administration, and restorative justice. Dr. Morrison is the Founding Chair of the Safe Schools and Communities Special Interest Group of the American Education Research Association. She has presented papers at UNESCO, in Paris, and the House of Lords in London, She has also chaired and presented on many international panels on restorative justice.

 

Jim Potts

Inspector Jim Potts, O.O.M., RCMP and OPP, retired in 2002, after 45 years’ service. He is of Ojibway descent and a member of the Temiskaming First Nation, and the first Status Indian to receive a Commission in the RCMP’s 125-year history. In September 2010, the Minister of National Defence appointed him Honorary Lieutenant Colonel with the 3rd Ranger Patrol Group of the Canadian Armed Forces, and now, although retired, he continues to provide “aboriginal perceptions” training for the RCMP and Canadian Armed Forces.

Rosemary Rowlands is currently an outreach worker with the Elizabeth Fry Society Yukon. Lending a helping hand, the Elizabeth Fry Society realizes that women from difficult circumstances can positively transform their lives, and those of their families. As the only organization of its kind, Elizabeth Fry focuses on delivering gender-specific support for women involved in the criminal justice system. Rosemary is a former Director of Justice for the Kwanlin Dun First Nation.

 

Barry Stuart

Barry Stuart, retired Chief Justice, Yukon Territorial Court, has 25 years of experience as both judge and mediator resolving disputes. He was the first judge to bring Circle Sentencing to Canada. He has worked internationally to develop community-based restorative justice processes, in order to enhance well-being and sustainability. Barry’s principal interest lies in creating safe places for people to engage in the difficult dialogues needed to move through seemingly intractable differences. He is an Associate, Dialogue Group, Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University.

 

Lisa Teryl

Lisa Teryl is a restorative justice facilitator and human rights lawyer with twenty years experience as  a litigator with Teryl Scott, Lawyers Inc. For six of these years, she worked at the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission as their Senior Legal Counsel.  While there, she developed with law professor Jennifer Llewellyn, Canada’s first restorative justice procedures for human rights tribunals.  One of the principles of these procedures was better access to human rights justice. To extend the reach of this work, she co-founded the Nova Scotia Provincial Access to Justice Tribunal Committee. The Committee recently developed generic rules of procedure for the province’s adjudicative tribunals.  These rules are informed by the Supreme Court of Canada’s access to justice principles. Her first foray into making justice more accessible to non-lawyers was her lay-person’s book, Nova Scotia Law: Everything You Wanted to Know but Couldn’t Afford to Ask, (Pottersfield, 2002).

 

James Scott

James Scott

Reverend James Scott directed the Coalition Against the Return of the Death Penalty and worked for many years with the Church Council on Justice and Corrections on alternatives to incarceration, family violence and restorative justice. He co-ordinated the Collaborative Justice Project in Ottawa and was a victim–offender mediator for CSC. He currently leads the United Church of Canada’s Indigenous Justice and Residential Schools initiatives and is actively involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

 

George Thomson

George Thomson’s career in law and public service began at the University of Western Ontario, where he became Assistant Dean of the Law School. He has since then been a judge, Deputy Attorney-General in the Government of Ontario, and the Deputy Minister of Justice in the Government of Canada. He is now Senior Director of the National Judicial Institute’s International Cooperation Group, where he has played a leadership role in a number of international justice reforms.

 

Evelyn Zellerer

Evelyn Zellerer, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of Peace of the Circle – an international organization that works with government, justice agencies, businesses, non-profits, schools and communities (www.peaceofthecircle.com). Evelyn is a facilitator, trainer and speaker specializing in peacemaking circles, conscious governance, and restorative justice. She is also a professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Over the past 25 years, she has taught and led projects in diverse cultural contexts, including the Arctic, Australia, Caribbean, Kazakhstan, South Africa, UK, and USA.