Volume 37, Number 1, 2022

EN:

In Canada, the practical application of youth diversion is rooted in an understanding of federal youth justice legislation and requires the consideration of police discretion. Yet, policing in Newfoundland and Labrador is shaped by localized practices, policies, and decisions. In the current article, we draw on online survey data to explore how Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) officers understand and apply Canada’s current federal youth legislation — the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) — and identify what factors, if any, influence the YCJA’s application. To unpack police officer attitudes towards youth and the YCJA and the actions police choose when handling matters involving youth, we draw from data collected from non-commissioned officers working in one of the three RNC detachments in 2016. Findings show that officers perceive a lack of YCJA resources available to front-line police officers in urban centres and a need for further training for officers who interact with youth. A desire for youth diversion services was evident among participants; however, the lack of availability of police-accessible pre-charge diversion options in Newfoundland and Labra-dor, including specific programs for youth, as well as police-specific training, are primary influencing factors affecting the understanding, implementation, and success of youth diversion in the province.

EN:

“On Common Ground” presents findings of research commissioned by Makivik Corporation in support of Nunavik Inuit claims to rights and interests in neighbouring Nunatsiavut, claims recognized in the 2006 Nunavik Inuit Land Claim Agreement. The original study ex-amined Nunavimmiut patterns of use and occupation in Labrador during the pre- and post-contact eras. Here, the scope is limited to the period after 1763 and focuses on an area spanning eastern Ungava Bay and the Torngat coast. The paper argues that these patterns encompass linked social and economic dimensions of a centuries-deep adaptation to the different subsistence potentials found across the area and are not simply consequences of the rise of colonial institutions.