 I was scribbling out my notes to try to get ready for this morning and not unlike my buddy Barry Stewart, I scribble. I don't type as effectively and after I scribbled and rushed out the door, I realized I forgot my glasses this morning. So perhaps that's a bit prophetic because I feel that after the many years that I've been around the restorative justice and restorative approaches conversations, it's about time that I drop the gloves a little bit, as we'd say in Canada. It's a real honor to be here. I don't do this very often, but I want to acknowledge in particular the courage, the wisdom, the clarity and the compassion of one person in particular who has brought the Nova Scotia restorative justice initiative to places that we could never have imagined. And that person's Jennifer Llewellyn. We had no idea 20 years ago, Bruce, what would become of what it was that we were trying to hatch at that time. But what we sensed deeply was that there was a wisdom that was beneath the surface of what it means to be a Nova Scotian. And I'm particularly gratified that this is something that taps into our Indigenous cultures from wherever you are and however you identify, and in particular the Mi'kmaq people of Nova Scotia and how they have brought to life our Indigenous teachings. So without glasses, I'm going to share with you, frankly, what I think about where we are at this time, 20 years later after starting the Nova Scotia restorative justice program. Restorative justice. Could there be two more compelling words? Who doesn't want to be restored? And who doesn't want justice? But the two words together, however, seem to create more debate than the words Donald and Trump. I confess with apologies to professors in the room that when I was a first-year law student at Dalhousie, when I heard the notion of restorative justice first mentioned, it didn't quite land. Because I grew up in a home of supportive and loving parents where the notion of justice was really determined by the strength of the penalty matched the strength of the offense that I might have committed at that time. So I was all about the red meat of justice. You do something bad, you get punished. You do something really bad, you really get punished. I was one of ten kids in my family. And it was only when I became a defense lawyer that I realized, frankly, that victims were getting the shaft and my clients were getting a free pass. And that communities were left on the sidelines oblivious and making assumptions and judgments about the experience of people on the inside. So back in the 1990s, some of us started down the path of creating the Nova Scotia restorative justice program, which led for me 15 years ago to fortunately being part of the creation of the Youth Criminal Justice Act here in Canada. So the hats that I wear sometime relate to both criminal justice in a youth justice context and restorative justice. Three months ago I was in Tanzania. And I was there, some of you would know or know of Professor Tony Doe, retired professor emeritus from the University of Toronto who is one of the leading thinkers on youth justice in Canada. And the two of us were co-leading a workshop on youth justice and restorative justice for Tanzanian officials, judges, crown, prosecutors, defense lawyers and the like. So we started with youth justice. And Tony and I went up to the microphone and we did our eager beaver best to sort of convey to people the importance of the system that could possibly provide the supports that we need. And I absolutely believe that we turned a corner with the Youth Criminal Justice Act and it's not perfect but big things had happened. But what we realized in 2016, just three months ago, that in 2009 in Tanzania they had passed a law of the child. By and large this law of the child was not being followed by police, by prosecutors, by defense lawyers or by judges across the entire country. And it caused us to think about why is that so? When we mentioned the principles of restorative justice the room came completely to life, stories flowed in, personalities were animated and possibilities were activated. So I've spent the last three months really thinking about what really happened there and what landed for the people there. What I realized was that first the rule of law is a cornerstone of any healthy society. And when one considers the traditions here in Canada of due process it makes me proud to be part of the legal system here in Canada. But laws can sometimes be the BS masquerading as our values. I'm not sure whether BS translates into every culture that's in this room but I hope that it does. Our deepest values can be buried under mountains of institutional rigor mortis that stifle possibilities. The only thing that really matters is our relationship to others and our relationship to the world around us. When it comes to conflict it's hard to imagine that we could have abrogated our responsibilities to reconcile and be in a relation much more than we have in western society. So what does it mean to be our brothers and sisters keeper? What does it mean to love your neighbor? What does it mean to be in relationship with each other? What does it mean to have a good life? Recently I was fortunate enough to read a report from Harvard University, 75 year study on adult development. It examined what made for a healthy and happy life and it examined men across a wide series of demographics and what it determines was that it's not power, money or fame. It's actually the quality of the relationships that we have as human beings. This gives me hope. This gives me hope about restorative justice because I believe that conflict is an opportunity. I believe that challenge is an opportunity and the greater the challenge the greater the opportunity and I believe that we are entering a period where this challenge is going to be met or not in a way that absolutely can transform the world. Earlier this month I was in my home island of Cape Breton four hours from here and I was listening to a conversation amongst citizens in the work that I do with an organization called Engage Nova Scotia which ultimately respects and trusts the notion that there is wisdom in crowds and that we the great unwashed actually have a great deal to give to the possibilities of how we can create a better world. And someone in the room piped up and said you know what I believe that the walls between institutions and people are thinning. And what came in my heart was a great big hallelujah. About time. About time that we recognize that the values that we hold as humans actually find a way into the laws that we create and the processes that we create as people. And this comes about only by blending our institutional voices as a as a in the criminal justice system or in other systems as a cop as a teacher as a crown as a judge as a victim as an advocate with our personal voices as a mother as a father as a brother as a human being. The invitation for us is to embrace all that it means to be a human being. Restorative justice and restorative approaches provides a window into the soul of the human condition. If we foster the human soul more light and clarity will appear. It's a privilege to be on the path of restorative justice and restorative approaches. I think something even more remarkable is just around the corner. Through our collective courage, clarity and compassion frankly like that of Jennifer we will round the corner and see the possibilities we may not yet imagine. Thanks very much.