— THE G-EIGHT SOCIAL MISSION
Black Youth Justice Initiative
A comprehensive, five-year commitment to ending the overrepresentation of Black youth in the Canadian criminal justice system — through prevention, intervention, and systemic transformation.
WHY THIS CANNOT WAIT
3X
Black youth are overrepresented in youth custody relative to their share of the population
Dept. of Justice Canada
$87M
Canada committed to the Black Justice Strategy in just its first two years — yet gaps remain.
Dept. of Justice Canada, 2024
20+
Years of judicial and legal expertise dedicated to making this initiative possible.
Harley Gervais, BYJI Consultant
“Where Black youth encounter opportunity, not criminalization. Justice Early. Justice human. Justice that works.”
Harley Gervais, Founder, The G-Eight & Black Youth Justice Initiative
— THE PROBLEM
This isn’t a criminal justice problem. It’s a justice problem.
Upstream
Schools are criminalizing students
When schools call police instead of counsellors, when suspensions replace support, Black youth enter the justice system through the front door of education.
Awareness
Families don’t know their rights
Without justice literacy, Black youth make decisions under pressure — coerced guilty pleas, waived rights — the shape the rest of their lives.
Systemic
The system isn’t designed for them
From bail decisions to sentencing, without culturally competent court actors and formal equity oversight, the system reproduces inequality at every stage.
“The overrepresentation of Black youth will not be solved by intervening only after youth are charged.”
It requires building the upstream structures — in schools, communities, familes, and law enforcement — that stop the trajectory toward criminalization before it begins.
The Black Youth Justice Initiative is The G-Eight’s commitment to doing exactly that: a full-time, undivided, five-year consultancy with the Ontario Court of Justice — spanning prevention, intervention, mentorship, law enforcement partnership, and restorative justice.
This is not charity. It is strategy. And it is the most important work The G-Eight does.
— HOW WE WORK
Two Tracks. One Mission.
The initiative operates on two distinct but deeply connected tracks. Both are essential. Together, they form a complete response.
Track One
Prevention
Stopping Black youth from entering the justice system in the first place
Track two
Intervention
Protecting Black youth who are already in contact with the justice system
— MEASURING SUCCESS
What we measure, we change.
Success indicators tracked across both prevention and intervention tracks throughout the five-year engagement.
Target — Schools
Police Calls
Reduction in police involvment in school discipline incidents involving Black youth — replaced by structured community-based response.
Target — Justice Literacy
Police Calls
Reduction in coerced guilty pleas among Black youth who now understand their rights and available alternatives.
Target — Courts
Pretrial Detention
Reduction in Black youth held in pre-trial detention through equitable bail decisions and diversion pathway expansion.
Target — Law Enforcement
Police Calls
Reduction in charges laid against Black youth for non-violent, first-contact, or minor behavioural situations.
Target — Community
Mentors Placed
Black legal and justice professionals paired with youth through a structured mentorship and leadership development program.
Target — Long-Term
Police Calls
Reduction in repeat court contact rates among youth within 12 months of diversion or restorative justice engagement.
— BEHIND THE INITIATIVE
20 years inside the system taught me exactly where it fails.
I’ve sat on the bench. I’ve counselled the Chief Justice. I’ve represented Canada diplomatically. I’m also a mother of six who has spent her entire career fighting for access to justice — not as an abstraction, but as something real people can reach.
Early in my judicial career, a woman came before me in complete crisis. Traumatized. The system had no idea what to do with her. So I did something unconventional — I removed my robe. I needed her to know that I was a human being before I was a judge. That day, we resolved. We healed. We restored.
That moment has never left me. It is the reason The G-Eight exists. And it is the reason the Black Youth Justice Initiative is not a side project — it is the mission.
GET INVOLVED
This work needs partners, not bystanders
Whether you are a funder, a law firm, a community organization, or a government partner — there is a role for you in this initiative.