#123 | Episode 6: In the Blind Spot – Restorative Justice in Canada: Lessons from Alberta
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In the Blind Spot | Episode 6 – Restorative Justice in Canada: Lessons from Alberta
Broadcast Date: October 1, 2026
EPISODE SUMMARY | CONFERENCE | SERIES OVERVIEW | BIOGRAPHIES | USEFUL LINKS | PREVIOUS SERIES
EPISODE SUMMARY
The traditional model of Canadian criminal law is a state-centred adversarial process designed to punish, deter, or rehabilitate. But once the trial is over and the sentence is imposed, has justice truly addressed the harm caused by crime? Restorative justice approaches ask different questions: Who has been harmed? What do they need? And who is responsible for addressing those needs, repairing the harm, or restoring relationships?
In this 6th episode of the series “In the Blind Spot,” the Honourable Justice Simon Ruel, of the Court of Appeal of Quebec, speaks with the Honourable Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant and the Honourable Justice Michelle Christopher, both of the Alberta Court of Justice, and the Honourable Justice Anna Loparco, of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. Together, they discuss the principles and benefits of restorative approaches in the legal system, the myths surrounding them, and the roles of judges, prosecutors, and defence counsel. The three guests also share what they have learned from Alberta’s Restorative Justice Project, launched in 2022.
Guest
- The Honourable Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant, Alberta Court of Justice
- The Honourable Justice Michelle Christopher, Alberta Court of Justice
- The Honourable Justice Anna Loparco, Court of King’s Bench of Alberta
Host
- The Honourable Justice Simon Ruel, Court of Appeal of Quebec
BIOGRAPHIES
The Honourable Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant
Alberta Court of Justice
Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant obtained her undergraduate degree from York University and attended Osgoode Hall Law School. After 2 years as a defence counsel in Toronto, she joined the Crown Prosecution Service. After moving to Calgary, she joined the Alberta Prosecution Service where she remained as an Assistant Chief Crown Prosecutor until her appointment to the bench in 2011. She has been a sessional instructor at Mount Royal University, the University of Lethbridge and the University of Calgary law school. She was appointed as an Assistant Chief of the Calgary and Region Criminal Division in 2017 and Deputy Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice in 2021. Deputy Chief Durant has oversight of all specialized and Indigenous Courts for the Court of Justice. She is the mentoring justice in the Drug Treatment Court and presides there frequently. She is also Chair of the Court’s Education and Criminal Caseflow committees. Together with Justices Anna Loparco and Michelle Christopher, Deputy Chief Justice Durant co-instructs an upper year seminar course offered at both the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta Law Schools on Restorative Justice.
The Honourable Justice Michelle Christopher
Alberta Court of Justice
The Honourable Justice Christopher KC, a Harvard trained mediator and former law professor, holds degrees from the University of Calgary, Dalhousie University and York University. Since her 2018 appointment as the first female judge in Medicine Hat, in Alberta’s Southern Judicial District, she has returned to her hometown of Calgary where she sits in the Criminal Division of the Alberta Court of Justice. Justice Christopher has maintained her commitment to legal education, both as an educator and a speaker. She is also active in judicial education committees and on boards, in her court, nationally and internationally through her work with the Alberta Provincial Justices’ Association, the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges, the American Judges’ Association and the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges. Together with Justice Anna Loparco and Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant, Justice Christopher co-instructs an upper year seminar course offered at both the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta Law Schools on Restorative Justice.
The Honourable Justice Anna Loparco
Court of King’s Bench of Alberta
Justice Loparco was appointed in March 2019 as a Justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. She graduated from McGill Law School in the bilingual and bijural program, earning degrees in Common Law and Civil Law as well as an MBA. She was admitted to the Quebec, New York, and Alberta Bars. She was a partner at Dentons LLP, and practiced in various litigation areas, including constitutional, language rights, education, professional liability, and Intellectual Property. She served as counsel to the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate and established a new framework for child representation. She represented many children in sexual and physical abuse cases, acted as a liaison to the courts in the province, provided advice on the process for investigations of deaths and serious injuries of children in care, and recommended changes to improve children’s services in Alberta. Justice Loparco is the co-founder and co-chair of Restorative Justice Committee, which is currently focused on criminal matters, but the project aims to expand restorative practices to family and civil contexts in the future. Justice Loparco has chaired the French Language and Interpretation Steering Committee of the Court of King’s Bench since 2020 and assisted in developing a French policy to improve access to justice in French. She regularly presides over French matters. She also serves as co-chair of the Family Law Steering Committee. Together with Justice Michelle Christopher and Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant, Justice Loparco co-instructs an upper year seminar course offered at both the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta Law Schools on Restorative Justice.
The Honourable Justice Simon Ruel
The Honourable Simon Ruel was elevated to the Court of Appeal of Quebec on June 21, 2017, after having sat on the Quebec Superior Court from 2014 to 2017. Justice Ruel studied law at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and has completed a certificate in Russian studies at Université Laval’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
As a lawyer, Justice Ruel practised mainly in public and administrative law and in government affairs. He was a member of the Quebec Bar (1995) and of the Law Society of Ontario (2007). After beginning his career with the firm of Grey Casgrain in Montreal, he subsequently became a litigator and counsel to the federal Department of Justice, the Privy Council Office, and the federal Department of Finance in Ottawa. Before his appointment to the Superior Court, he was a partner at the firm of BCF Business Law in Quebec City and, prior to that, at the national Canadian firm Heenan Blaikie
Justice Ruel participated as counsel in numerous federal and provincial public inquiries and investigations. These included the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, the Cornwall Public Inquiry, and the Commission of Inquiry on the Process for Appointing Judges presided by the Honourable Michel Bastarache. He also appeared before the Manitoba Court of Appeal to represent the Manitoba Commission of Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Phoenix Sinclair.
In addition to practising law, Justice Ruel taught public and administrative law at the Quebec Bar School and lectured on civil and commercial evidence at the University of Ottawa. He has authored or co-authored numerous legal publications, articles, and commentaries on public and administrative law and on inquiries. He has also participated as a speaker, host, or moderator in a number of legal events on topics covering judicial ethics, public and administrative law, public inquiries and investigations, criminal and penal law, the use of technology in the justice system, and judgment writing. Justice Ruel has served as chair of the Quebec Judicial Committee on Information Security (“COMSI”) and chair of the Judges Section of the Canadian Bar Association.
He is currently a puisne member of the Judicial Independence Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council and co-chair of the Council’s social media subcommittee. As counsel, he advised the Council on reforms to the disciplinary process for federally appointed judges and, subsequently, as a member of the Council’s Judicial Independence Committee, he participated in revising the Ethical Principles for Judges, which were updated in 2021, and in the drafting of the Guidelines on the Use of Social Media by Federally Appointed Judges, which were released in October 2024.
Justice Ruel also has an interest in international law. In 2014, in preparation for the review of Haiti’s implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, he participated, on behalf of Transparency International/Haiti, in an international mission to assess anti-corruption measures taken by the Republic of Haiti.
Over the course of his study leave during the 2023-2024 judicial year, Justice Ruel focused on the law of war, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. He was a visiting professor at Université Laval’s Faculty of Law in Quebec City and took part in a number of teaching activities and seminars on these topics. He collaborated with the Faculty’s International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic and with Lawyers Without Borders, including on issues relating to the prevention of corruption. He also made three visits to the International Criminal Court in The Hague as a visiting professional to observe all facets of international criminal justice in an active case involving the Central African Republic.
USEFUL LINKS
- Restorative justice | Alberta.ca
- Restorative Justice Pilot Project
- Principles and Guidelines for Restorative Justice Practice in Criminal Matters (2018) – CICS
- Government Bill (House of Commons) C-16 (45-1) – Royal Assent – Protecting Victims Act – Parliament of Canada
PREVIOUS SERIES
“Under Fire” is a series of french podcasts produced by the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice and hosted by the Honorable Judge Simon Ruel of the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2024. The interviews feature experts in international law, the law of war, humanitarian law, and international criminal law. The series aims to examine and understand the rules and legal consequences arising from international conflicts.
The right to wage war (jus ad bellum) and international humanitarian law (jus in bello) concern, respectively, the right of states to use armed force against other states and the regulation of armed conflict once it has begun, with the aim, in particular, of limiting suffering and protecting civilian populations. International criminal law deals with the individual criminal responsibility of actors in armed conflicts for crimes constituting serious violations of humanitarian law, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The International Criminal Court is a permanent international criminal court with universal jurisdiction and a mandate to rule on the responsibility of such actors. In addition, certain issues relating to armed conflict may also be brought before the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, particularly with regard to the use of force in international law and the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The “Under Fire” podcast series explores these topics with experts in an accessible and educational manner, with the aim of demystifying these important concepts for the Canadian legal community and enabling it to better understand the current global flashpoints and their consequences.
List of episodes (in French):
- Le droit international humanitaire (ou droit des conflits armés – jus in bello)
- La justice pénale internationale sous toutes ses coutures
- La défense en justice pénale internationale
- Les victimes et la justice pénale internationale
- Le recours à la force en droit international et la Cour internationale de justice
In All Fairness is a Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice podcast channel welcoming representatives from the legal community and exploring how we can all contribute to improving the administration of justice in Canada. Legal professionals will benefit from informed discussions on key issues, essential knowledge and insights to strengthen their practice.
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