The African Nova Scotia Justice Institute (ANSJI) received $4.8 million in funding from the former Liberal government in July 2021. A year later, Premier Tim Houston’s PC government announced an additional $4.1M in funding for March 2024 until March 2026. The vast majority of the funding received will be utilized towards staffing.
The institute’s mandate is to serve the African Nova Scotian community and communities of people of African descent throughout Nova Scotia, in the field of justice, according to acting interim director, Robert Wright.
“The African Nova Scotian Justice Institute is an example of community-based innovation to address the systemic racism issues in this province. We’re always looking for ways our work can complement and support work, not just on behalf of people of African descent, but all equity-seeking and justice-seeking people,” said Wright.
ANSJI provides services in three different areas, direct legal service delivery, strategic justice initiatives, and forensic assessment and treatment.
“In terms of our legal work, we operate a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services to African Nova Scotians and other people of African descent across Nova Scotia, and we already have a Nova Scotia Legal Aid system. We are certainly developing expertise in that area of critical race, adjudication or legal work,” said Wright.
The institute also has a mandate to be involved in human rights issues and policing oversight work, such as street checks.
“Historically, that has had a negative and dramatic impact on the black community. Kirk Johnson, for example, is the matter that brought street checks clearly into focus. And although that was a 2003 human rights case, much of the work that was supposed to be done in that case was left undone until 2019,” said Wright.
Kirk Johnson is an African Nova Scotian former professional boxer who was repeatedly pulled over by police on his way home and launched a human rights complaint against the police.
“He said you’re pulling me over because I’m black, and the Human Rights Commission said yes, indeed, it seems like the policing that was done here in this case, was racially motivated,” said Wright.
The Human Rights Commission has since implemented police keep race-based statistics on their traffic stops. ANSJI would ensure that the police are not racially motivated in their behaviours in those areas. So the police were ordered to keep track of their race-based statistics.
Wright has been the interim director of the African Nova Scotia Justice Institute since a year ago and will carry on with the role until a full-time director is appointed at the institute, which could be over the next couple of months.
Listen to the full interview below: