Halifax Examiner — Systemic racism plagues the Crown prosecutor’s office in Nova Scotia, and the office’s efforts to address the problem have only made the situation worse, say critics.

Robert Wright is the executive director of the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute, an organization made up of Black lawyers and legal experts whose mandate is to support Black Nova Scotians in contact with the law and to address racism and overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system.  

In an open letter on behalf of the Justice Institute and in the interview with the Examiner, Wright said the institute’s correspondence with government officials and leadership at the Crown prosecutor’s office, formally known as the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), leaves them doubtful their concerns about systemic racism at the PPS are being heard and addressed. 

“There has been a longstanding concern, not only of systemic racism in generic practice in the Public Prosecution Service but systemic racism in HR practices at the Public Prosecution Service,” said Wright in an interview with the Halifax Examiner. 

Denial of a FOIPOP request

One of the two main concerns outlined in the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute’s open letter stems from the denial of a freedom of information access request to a report of an independent review of HR practices within the Public Prosecution Service. 

“Concerns that the PPS has little or no representation of Mi’kmaq or Black persons in senior roles led to an independent PPS employment systems review conducted by Laura Williams and Associates,” the letter reads.

“That report has been submitted and reviewed by government and PPS officials but has not been released to the public… The ANSJI has submitted a Freedom of Information request for the document and have been told that it will not be released.”

Wright said he understood that personnel files on specific employees might not be subject to a FOIPOP.

“But when there is a systemic review there should be data that should be releasable to organizations and to individuals who have a reason to want to have information,” Wright said. “For example, has there ever been a senior Crown appointed from the Black community? Has there been an Indigenous or a Mi’kmaq senior Crown appointed? Are there women in the administration there? Are there people who identify as 2SLGTBQ?”

“Those of us who are in the community who are responsible for tracking and promoting these kinds of issues should have access to the data when that data is available.”

Fair Treatment of African Nova Scotians policy

The other major area of concern is the implementation and subsequent fallout from a new PPS Fair Treatment of African Nova Scotians Policy. Here’s how former PPS director Martin Herschorn described the policy in a June 2020 statement: “A comprehensive Public Prosecution Service policy respecting the fair treatment of African Nova Scotians in criminal prosecutions.” 

The policy was introduced on May 31 at a rollout day conference in Halifax that Wright described as “a complete disaster.”

“[The conference was held] to introduce the policy, discuss the policy, and to give the public prosecutors — there’s about a hundred of them in the province, I think there’s only two people of African descent, one who’s an African Nova Scotian and one who’s an African immigrant — some exposure to what kinds of issues in the Black community are alive that they might want to be attentive to.”

The conference was also attended by members of the local Black community, including lawyers and people who work for the Justice Institute. 

Wright was not at the conference but said he started getting several phone calls from many trusted close friends and colleagues who were in attendance.

“I would say that there were people who were present on the day who would say that they saw dramatic expressions of palpable and vitriolic racism,” Wright said.

Some of the vitriol, Wright said, was aimed at local Black activists Corey Wright (a second cousin of Robert Wright), and Kate MacDonald, who were not in attendance but were scheduled as guest speakers at the conference.

Robert Wright said that both Corey Wright and MacDonald “were mentioned by name in email correspondence prior to the training day in which their presence to support the training day was being questioned.”

“Corey Wright [is] well known because, of course, he was the man who was prosecuted and convicted of the manslaughter of the U.S. sailor [in Halifax]… and he’s an individual who, as part of his rehabilitation and his return to community, has been actively engaged in supporting people who’ve been involved with the criminal justice system.”

Corey Wright has been involved with 902 Man Up and the John Howard Society in various projects designed particularly to support Black men.

“Certainly, since his release from prison, he has been an actively engaged member of the Black community who has knowledge of, and first-hand experience with, the criminal justice system,” Robert Wright said.

MacDonald was an active participant in the housing protests in Halifax in the summer of 2021.

“And she was one of the people who was charged as a result of her activism in those protests.”

Wright said all of MacDonald’s charges were dropped prior to the day of the conference.

“If she was charged with criminal actions during those protests and all of those charges were dropped by the person prosecuting them, why would there be any mention of the fact that she had been charged?” said Wright.

Amid the backlash, Robert Wright said both Corey Wright and Kate MacDonald pulled out prior to the conference.

“You can imagine there’s a person who you work with every day, who you think is a well-meaning individual who’s sworn to pursue justice the same way you are sworn to pursue justice, and then they’re standing up in a meeting saying vitriolic racist things and you wonder, ‘Am I safe in this workplace?“ Wright said about Black members of the legal community who were at the conference.

“Being in the room whether those statements were being made by their colleague prosecutors, or whether they were members of the Black community who were present during the day who were not prosecutors, sitting and hearing that stuff is like watching a train wreck unfold in front of you and you’re not able to do anything.”

Wright said deputy PPS director Denise Smith, in her former role as acting director, has since informed him that the co-chairs of the Equity and Diversity committee that organized the rollout day conference, Ingrid Brodie and Josie McKinney, were removed from those roles following the conference.

According to Wright, Brodie and McKinney, were “replaced by individuals who have openly demonstrated their hostility to the Fair Treatment of African Nova Scotians Policy.”

Definition of African Nova Scotian

Wright said that within the Fair Treatment of African Nova Scotians policy, changes have also since been made “to alter the definition of African Nova Scotians with no consultation from members of the African Nova Scotian community.”

“African Nova Scotian is to Black what Acadian is to Francophone, and what Mi’Kmaq is to Indigenous,” Wright told the Examiner.

“I would say that there is a concern expressed by some that the definition of African Nova Scotians may be divisive and not respectful of other people. Now, if you look at the entirety of the Public Prosecution Service you’d have to say, ‘Well, if there are only two Black people here and one is African Nova Scotian and the other is not, the division can’t be a great one because we don’t exist there in great number.’”

The African Nova Scotian Justice Institute’s open letter ends by saying: “The African Nova Scotian Justice Institute plans to hold a public symposium on racism in the criminal justice system in the coming months. It is our hope to inspire public discussion about these issues in the weeks leading up to that event.”

Response from the Public Prosecution Service

In a July 20 news release from the province, Karen Hudson was announced as the new acting Director of the PPS, taking over from Denise Smith.

The Examiner emailed Hudson in July, and PPS communications advisor Melissa Noonan said that Hudson “has reviewed Mr. Wright’s letter and is taking the time necessary to fully understand the concerns raised in the open letter.”

“Karen assumed the role of Acting Director of Public Prosecutions the day before yesterday, so she was not present for the policy training,” Noonan said in the email. 

“Fostering a prosecution service that values and supports diversity, equity, and inclusion is a priority; as is developing prosecution policy to help address systemic racism in the criminal justice system. We are aware we have work to do, but these are sensitive issues that require time and thoughtfulness.”

Disclosure: The reporter’s mother is a senior Crown attorney of African descent with the PPS.