As a volunteer with qathet Community Justice, I have experienced a compassionate, inclusive and effective system of justice that prioritizes healing, reconciliation and the well-being of individuals and community.
The following letter, submitted with the permission of the writers and qathet Community Justice, reflects the positive change that can be had in a community through restorative justice. When those responsible for crime meet face to face with those who have been affected by their actions, hearing firsthand the impacts caused to them, accountability is encouraged, and meaningful amends can be made to the community.
“To our community: We deeply regret our actions in spray-painting the Willingdon trail, including the memorial benches on the trail. We understand the harm it has caused to the community and to the family’s who had their lost ones dedicated to those benches. We sincerely apologize for our behaviour and the damage it has done. We take full responsibility for our actions and are learning from this mistake.
“We have learned a valuable lesson from this experience. Moving forward we are committed to making amends and being responsible members of our community. We went down the Willingdon trail and washed all the benches and picked up waste around the park and trail.
“Over the past few weeks we went to restorative justice meetings to talk about the different impacts it had on people and working on moving forward from this. We learnt to always think before acting on impulse. Now when situations come up like this we have learned to walk away and to not get involved. We apologize again for the harm and immaturity of our act.”
Teresa Harwood-Lynn,
qathet Community Justice volunteer
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