History

As PACT continued to work closely with the youth justice system across Toronto, the charity was once again invited by now-Justice Richard Blouin, to develop a new program that would specifically support and respond to the needs of the disproportionately small group of young people who were responsible for the majority of charges before the youth court at any given time. Based on this request, PACT developed and introduced an innovative one-on-one intervention called the LifePlan Coaching Program, specifically designed to both break the cycle of criminal behavior in youth who were already caught up in the justice system, as well as prevent this cycle of antisocial and disruptive behavior in students struggling within the middle and high school environment.

It soon became apparent that there were not enough opportunities for youth to perform meaningful community service hours that were part of many resolution agreements. This was the initial impetus for PACT to develop and introduce a range of hands-on life and job skills projects for youth starting with PACTCooking and PACTFilm in 2005. Many of these projects, delivered by real-world professionals in safe, nurturing, and accessible spaces, provide valuable experience, build leadership, allow youth to express themselves, as well as give back to the community in productive and meaningful ways.
 

• PACTCooking (2005) - see article

• PACTFilm (2005)

• PACTMusic (2006) - see article

• PACTForestry (2006)

• PACTMagic (2007)

• PACTFarm (2008)

• PACTBuild (2009) - see article

• PACTFashion (2010) - see article 1 and article 2

• PACT Haunted Theatre (2011) - see article

Originally modelled after an innovative program from Sparwood, B.C., developed by an RCMP Officer named Jake Bouwman and a defense lawyer named Glen Purdy, which was based on the Aboriginal Healing Circle process, along with the full support of the Assistant Crown Attorney at the Scarborough Youth Court (Richard Blouin), PACT launched its first offering, a Restorative Justice (RJ) court diversion program in 2001. 

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The program was designed as a meaningful and cost-effective diversion option for the Court that allowed mostly first-time offender youth to have their cases resolved outside of the traditional justice setting in a community-based restorative process called a Resolution Conference. This conferencing circle allowed all those involved in the incident to get clarity around what happened, the charged youth to hear from and apologize to their victims, and most importantly for them to take responsibility for their actions. The ultimate goal was coming up with an acceptable “resolution agreement” that worked towards healing the harm that had been caused and doing the best to restore things back to how they were before the incident occurred.

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With these Restorative Justice conferences running in partnership with the Scarborough youth court, helping hundreds of young people in conflict with the law deal with their charges within the community, PACT went on to expand the program across the GTA and into the Metro West (2003), 311 Jarvis (2004), Newmarket, and Brampton youth courts over the next few years.

Then in 1995, based on their experience with the Redwood Shelter and the realization that the only truly effective way to combat violence is to address its root causes, David and Dan decided to raise money and awareness to create programs that eliminate violence and create massive social change. The resulting charity was called The Canadian Foundation for The Prevention of Family Violence. Its mandate – to leverage the entire community to fund programs that reduce violence in our homes and our communities. The PACT Urban Peace Program is the flagship program of the Foundation.

In 1987, David Lockett and Dan Cornacchia became charter members of the Rotary Club of Parkdale with a vision to build a shelter for domestic violence. In 1993, with the help of Rotary and the local community, The Redwood Shelter opened its doors to help victims of family violence. David was the founding President of the Redwood Shelter and Dan was the Treasurer.

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The Redwood continues to offer safety, healing, and opportunities for growth for women and their children fleeing abuse. Families receive case management and counseling services from professional counselors, access to empowering and life-changing programs, and transitional support when they are ready to take the next steps toward a new life.