Restorative Justice Cowichan aims to improve understanding and compassion while delivering a sense of justice to those harmed by crime.
The organization, which was formerly called Warmland RJ, was started in 2012 and continues to play a positive role in the community as it aims, where appropriate, to resolve conflict in a more time sensitive and efficient way than the criminal justice system is able.
"Those who have offended and take responsibility by participating in restorative justice are far less likely to re-offend again in the future," said RJC president Rosalie Sawrie. "Most who volunteer doing community forums will say the best part of the job is the open communication and understanding that happens throughout the community forum process. The responsible and affected parties both get to be heard and work together to find common ground on how things can be made right. Instead of shaming, this process builds understanding and compassion and works to repair the harm through resolution and reintegration in the community."
This time last year, RJC was offering case manager training at their second floor office at 394 Duncan St. They are looking to start up another round of training at some point before the summer, and another round in the fall. Learn more and stay on top of upcoming sessions by visiting .
"We have a diverse group of people who take interest in our training for a variety of reasons, some want to volunteer and others find the training helpful in their current line of work," said Sawrie. "For volunteers, we offer the training for free. If someone is coming from outside the community and has an interest in participating but not volunteering the cost is $400. There is an online component along with a full weekend of in-person training with meals included."
One of the most recent and exciting things that RJC has brought to the community is their school-based program called Restorative Justice in Education that began with some curriculum development in 2022 and assistance in funding from Island Health's Community Wellness Grant Program. This enabled RJC to pilot the program at Quamichan school in Duncan during the 2023-24 school year, which has now expanded to the Open Learning Program and Mill Bay's Frances Kelsey Secondary for the current 2024/25 school year.
"The facilitators host pre-conflict circle dialogues with the students and are able to host a community forum if a conflict does arise," said Sawrie. "This is a shift in philosophy, moving staff and student interactions away from punitive and exclusive responses to deeper connection, relationship building, and the prevention and reparation of harm, thus facilitating a more inclusive school culture."
The new program is only taught in the three schools at this time. While the Ministry of Education is in support of the culture shift, there is a limited capacity and funding for it at this time. Sawrie said the non-profit organization has applied for multi-year funding to build capacity in the schools and expand on it, but whether or not they will receive it is yet to be confirmed.
The success of Restorative Justice in Education was confirmed at RJC's AGM on April 23 through a presentation by their school program facilitators Carmen Hildebrand, and Daphne Hachey who shared some of the lessons learned, as well as its successes. Also giving a short presentation at the AGM was Staff Sergeant Ken Beard who spoke on behalf of the Duncan/North Cowichan RCMP about the benefits of restorative justice in the community.
RJC continues to promote restorative for the year ahead beyond the classroom. They have been working within the business community to ensure all local business owners are aware of the process in cases of vandalism, theft, etc., and plan to continue building that relationship as well as the one they have with the local RCMP. RJC has also been working with both the provincial and federal Crown to take referrals when deemed appropriate.
"To continue to do this work well and continue the schools program, we need to build our own capacity which includes seeking funds through grants and fundraising," said Sawrie. "We now have our charitable status, which we received in 2024, which allows us to host more frequent training sessions and build up our volunteer caseworker team. We've dramatically increased our case referrals in a short amount of time so this will be important as word spreads and people learn about restorative justice."
