To help Albertans increase their awareness and improve their understanding and knowledge of the justice system, Alberta Justice and Alberta Solicitor General and Public Security developed the Education Coordinator Initiative.

This initiative is coordinated by the Public Legal Education Coordinator who assists the ministries of Justice and Solicitor General and Public Security in improving Albertans’ knowledge and understanding of the Alberta justice system by:

• working to find better ways of informing Albertans about the justice system;
• providing assistance to school and community mentoring programs related to justice; and
• helping determine how justice education can be improved through the development of new resources and other joint strategies.

The Education Coordinator Initiative was developed because Albertans said public legal education was important.

The Alberta Summit on Justice was held in January 1999.

Over 150 delegates were brought together to discuss strengths, weaknesses, concerns and other factors of the justice system in Alberta. This resulted in 519 individual recommendations that were summarized into 25 core recommendations and eight themes.

Theme one was identified as “improving the public’s knowledge, education and awareness of the justice system in Alberta.” In the Response of the Government of Alberta to the Final Report, Alberta Summit on Justice, the Government of Alberta set out several strategies to help meet the needs of Albertans as identified by the summit delegates.

To help implement these strategies, the Education Coordinator Initiative was created in the Fall of 2000.

If you have any comments or questions, please contact the Public Legal Education Coordinator at PLE.Coordinator@gov.ab.ca or by telephone at 780-427-8530 (dial 310-0000 to be connected toll-free).