Events

Criminal Justice and Public Policy (CJPP) presents events that focus attention on criminology, criminal justice and public policy topics.

Highly anticipated annual events, such as the Truscott Lecture in Justice and Wrongful Conviction Day panels, center on crime and justice. Other lecture series such as the Criminal Justice in Practice (CJiP) series draws on community expertise to complement classroom learnings.

Truscott Lecture in Justice

The Truscott Lecture in Justice series is part of the Truscott Initiative launched at the University of Guelph in 2009, to commemorate the struggles of Guelph resident Steven Truscott and his family.

Truscott was wrongly convicted at the age of 14 and spent years in prison before his release in 1969. He was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2007. His decades-long battle to prove his innocence after the 1959 murder of his schoolmate Lynne Harper is well known across Canada.

The Truscott Initiative aims to improve our understanding of Canada’s complex criminal justice system and to highlight how criminal justice intersects with other policy areas and broader conceptions of justice.

Past Truscott Lectures

• How Can We Improve Criminal Justice? Reflections on the State of the Canadian Criminal Justice System with Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michael Moldaver (2023)
• Covering Crime – Canadian Reporters Tell the Inside Story (2020)
• What Does the Future of Justice Look Like? Presented by Senator Kim Pate (2019)
• Challenging the Status Quo, presented by the Honourable Yasir Naqvi, Attorney General of Ontario (2017)
• Lessons Learned from an Inquiry into Wrongful Convictions, presented by the Honourable Stephen T. Goudge, Q.C. (2015)

Details regarding all past Truscott Lectures can be found here. 

Wrongful Conviction Day

Wrongful Conviction Day, which is held each year on October 2, brings attention to the injustices faced by the wrongfully convicted. CJPP events in support of this day help to educate the campus and wider communities about the causes of wrongful convictions and the experiences of the wrongfully convicted.

Past Wrongful Conviction Day Events

• Public presentation with special guest exoneree Ron Dalton (2023)
• Public presentation with special guest exoneree Maria Shepherd (2022)
• Public presentation with special guest exoneree Glen Assoun and defence lawyer Sean MacDonald (2021)
• Panel discussion with special guest exoneree Robert Baltovich (2020)
• Panel discussion with special guest exoneree O'Neil Blackett (2019)
• Panel discussion with special guest exonerees William Mullins-Johnson and David Milgaard (2018)

Criminal Justice in Practice Series

The Criminal Justice in Practice (CJiP) event series aims to expose students to the practical realities of the criminal justice system. By inviting practitioners who work in various roles in the criminal justice system, the talks will foster connections between students and the local community. It will also emphasize the mutildisciplinarity of careers in criminal justice. 

Past Events in the Series

2023-2024 Series

• Indigenous-led Community Supports for Housing and Release from Custody with representatives from Atlohsa Family Healing Services (Live Experiences of the Justice System, 2024)
• Is Canada's Bail System Broken? With criminal defence lawyer Boris Bytensky (Trial Actors, 2023)

2022-2023 Series

• Indigenous Policing in Ontario: Reflections from a Retired Chief of Police with John Domm (Policing & Law Enforcement, 2022)

2021-2022 Series

• Enforcing Compliance: Challenges and Opportunities of Community Supervision with probation officer Tracy Nguyen (Corrections & Community Sanctions, 2022)
• Drug Treatment Court: One Judge’s Experience with the Honourable Justice Elliott Allen (Trial Actors, 2021)
• Community Impacts of Substance Abuse: a Police Perspective with Guelph Chief of Police Gord Cobey, Sergeant Brad Saint and Inspector Steve Gill (Policing & Law Enforcement, 2021)

2020-2021 Series

• Prisoner's Rights Abuses – Reflections on Life Behind Bars with Lawrence Da Silva (Lived Experiences of the Justice System, 2021)
• Justice for Whom? A Youth Perspective with David Mitchell (Corrections & Community Sanctions, 2021)
• Social Exclusion and the Criminal Justice System with Gail Smith (Trial Actors, 2020)

2019-2020 Series

• Pathways In and Out of Custody with Emily O'Brien (Lived Experiences of the Justice system, 2020)
• Gangs, Inmate Hierarchy and Culture with Sgt. Marlene Lariviere (Corrections & Community Sanctions, 2020)
• Changing Roles in the Criminal Justice System with Justice Lorelei Amlin (Trial Actors, 2019)
• Engaging Youth in the Community with Guelph Chief of Police Gord Cobey (Policing & Law Enforcement, 2019)

Where To? Using Your CJPP & CCJP Degrees Beyond Graduation 

The Where To? speaker series aims to expose students to the variety of career opportunities available to students graduating from the Criminal Justice & Public Policy and Criminology & Criminal Justice Policy programs. By inviting practitioners - primarily U of G alumni - who work in various roles related to criminal justice and public policy, the sessions will emphasize the breadth of employment opportunities available to our graduates and how former graduates navigated their way to these opportunities. 

The Where To? series differs from the CJiP series as the former emphasizes "How did you get to your position" while the latter emphasizes "What do you do in your position?"

Past Events in the Series

2021-2022 Series 

• Where To? Public Service careers with Lindsey Gray, Vanessa Dupuis, Stephen O'Brien and Tanya Buciora (2021)
• Where To? Law careers with Graham Brown, Aleeyah Samuels, Amanda Komljenovic, and Benjam Janzen (2021)