Anna McAlpine

Originally from Toronto, Anna McAlpine first discovered a special interest in human rights, justice, and equity while completing her Bachelor of Arts degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. During this time, Anna pursued her passion for improving sexual violence response and prevention through both her academic studies and while volunteering as a crisis responder at the Kingston Sexual Assault Centre. From her time as a crisis responder, Anna quickly learned that the government was primarily investing in violence responses focused on prison and policing, rather than meaningful, root cause-centered violence prevention: “Because our government invested the vast majority of our resources into prison and policing, the only thing we could offer callers who weren’t interested in the criminal justice system was crisis support via the phone line and short-term counselling. Nothing was happening to address root causes, to stop the person who harmed them from causing further harm, to make anyone safer, or to heal the community.”

This realization, stemming from both her academic and professional experiences, eventually led Anna to focus on restorative justice and subsequently, prison abolition. After learning about the human rights violations and injustices occurring in prisons, she knew that “… they could not possibly be the solution to anything, especially not sexual violence, and that the more resources invested in prisons and policing, the less is invested in things that might actually make our communities safe and well.” Anna’s desire to further explore these perspectives; support and advocate for those who have been marginalized and made vulnerable by the justice system; and strive towards creating alternatives to criminalization and incarceration drove her to enroll at the Schulich School of Law, where she is currently completing a law degree with a specialization in criminal justice.

In Anna’s first month of law school, she attended the East Coast Prison Justice Society annual general meeting. At the meeting, she had the opportunity to hear Harry Critchley speak about prison and policing justice — specifically, his work to ban the use of spit hoods by Halifax Regional Police. Reflecting on this experience and how it continues to inspire her work.

“I learned so much from hearing him speak that day and was inspired to learn that such a young lawyer was able to do such impactful and important work. I saw Harry speak at other events after that first AGM and was always equally inspired by the stories he shared and the way he spoke about his work. Although I never properly met Harry, he was, and still is, a role model for me, standing as an example of what passionate law students and lawyers can do if they work hard and think creatively.”

Having Emma Halpern, executive director of Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia and co-founder of PATH Legal, as one of her first-year criminal law professors introduced her to the mission, mandate, and values of PATH, which she has been immersed in ever since. Beginning as an intake volunteer, Anna’s role with PATH soon developed into a legal internship, primarily focused on assisting with parole files.

Anna’s immense contributions to PATH, combined with her demonstrated devotion to alleviating injustice, inequity, and human rights violations for all, make her the perfect first recipient of the Harry Critchley Prison and Policing Articling Clerk Program Fund. Aside from her work with PATH, her candidacy can be attributed to her current internship with The Restorative Research, Innovation and Education Lab, which involves assisting with CIRCLE-NS, a trailblaze dedicated to applying a restorative approach to complex challenges in support of community well-being and her former work as a pro-bono student for Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, conducting legal research into challenges surrounding sexual assault prevention and response and consolidating this research into accessible documents for both legal support workers and clients in the community.

Throughout her articling placement, Anna hopes to continue working on parole files through a human-centered approach: “There are infinite problems with our parole system, but it feels like an area of the law where there are lots of opportunities to take a human-centred approach, which really matters to me and is something that I know matters to the folks at PATH.” In particular, she is eager to keep supporting PATH as they challenge the constitutionality of the Parole by Exception, or ‘compassionate release’, regime. Regarding this challenge, which entails arguing that Parole by Exception must be available to those serving life sentences, whether or not they are terminally ill, Anna says, “It is reflective of the shared mandates of PATH, East Coast Prison Justice Society, and Elizabeth Fry Society to protect the health and rights of incarcerated people, and I am interested to see what expanding availability of the Parole by Exception regime could mean for people serving life sentences.”

As she enters this next stage of her work with PATH, Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, and East Coast Prison Justice Society, Anna is grateful for and honoured to have an opportunity that will allow her, and eventually other new graduates, to have full-time work in furthering justice and equity at such an early career stage: “There are very few jobs in public interest law available to new graduates, even fewer-- basically none, in prison and policing law. I hope that this fund leads to long-term, sustainable funding for years of Harry Critchley articling clerks who are all committed to the causes that mattered to Harry, because no one person will be able to carry his legacy forward on their own. I hope to be one of many people doing my part.”

Dear Anna,

We are thrilled and filled with gratitude to have you as the first Harry Critchley Prison and Policing Articling Clerk. We are confident that your commitment to social justice, equity, safety, and human rights for all will shine through your accomplishments and help us to carry on Harry’s incredible work.

On behalf of all our organizations, thank you to Anna and all those who have supported and donated to the fund.