Laurier’s Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being awarded for Gladue Principles, Global Crime and Justice continuing education programs

May 2, 2022

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being, based in the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, has won two awards as part of the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education’s (CAUCE) annual awards competition, which recognizes programs and courses at CAUCE member institutions for excellence in achieving their educational objectives.

Gladue Principles: Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System, a non-credit certificate program, won the non-credit programming under 48 hours award, while the part-time, online Global Crime and Justice certificate won the credit programming over 48 hours award.

“We are grateful to CAUCE for recognizing these two very unique programs,” says Holly Cox, manager of the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being. “Our team is so very proud of these programs. They represent the best of what can happen when excellence meets cooperation and persistence.”

CAUCE evaluates programs and courses based on the value and service they provide; the complexity involved in developing the program; ingenuity and innovation in content, process and delivery; and the role of the program or course in enhancing the profile of continuing education within the university and community.

The Gladue Principles program at Laurier is designed for those in the legal, social, Indigenous rights and public safety sectors to learn more about a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision advising that lower courts should consider an Indigenous offender's background when making sentencing decisions. The decision was made to attempt to address the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in Canadian penal facilities; systemic racism in Canada’s justice system; and the failures of traditional sentencing principles and practices to meet the needs and realities of Indigenous peoples.

Laurier’s Gladue Principles program provides learners with historical context, including the impacts of colonization; details on Section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code; case and Indigenous law; Indigenous Peoples Court; restorative justice; what Gladue Principles look like in practice; and what is needed to increase success in applying Gladue Principles moving forward.

Laurier’s Global Crime and Justice program is based on modules created by more than 600 academics and experts from around the world through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Education for Justice initiative, which seeks to prevent crime, promote a culture of lawfulness through education and empower the next generation of global justice changemakers.

The program covers topics including the trafficking of firearms; digital technology and crime; wildlife, forest and fisheries crimes; counter terrorism, crime prevention and criminal justice; human trafficking; and transnational organized crime.

The fully online Global Crime and Justice program is offered through a series of six-week courses and is open to Laurier undergraduates from any campus or program, as well as to working professionals and students from other universities.