05/23/2026
Our second and final day of the conference has come to a close! Today’s presentations continued to explore the many ways systems of punishment and criminalization shape our communities, with conversations on carceral geography, disability justice, restorative justice, resistance inside and beyond prison, the penal voluntary sector, and the dynamics of power and punishment.
This evening, we were honoured to hear from Desmond Cole, whose closing keynote challenged us to reflect on the practices that consciously and unconsciously reinforce racism, particularly anti-Black racism, within mainstream Canadian media. We then closed the conference with a deeply moving ceremony, “MMIWG2S and Indigenous Men: Love and Witnessing,” featuring poetry, jingle and fancy shawl dance, and drumming from the Auntie Social Singers.
Over these two days, “Connecting Paths” was reflected not only in the themes of the conference, but in the relationships, conversations, and moments of collective witnessing shared throughout the space. Thank you to everyone who presented, attended, organized, performed, and contributed to making this gathering so meaningful.
