REV. DR. JAMES SCOTT

I was ordained by The United Church of Canada in 1976 after graduating from Victoria University and Emmanuel Theological College in Toronto, and I initially served congregations in Saskatchewan. However, in 1980, I redirected my ministry towards social justice, peacemaking, and conflict resolution, advocating for peace, human rights, and restorative justice.

​

In 1982, I organized 1,200 Montreal citizens to attend the international march for peace at the UN's Second Special Session on Disarmament in New York City. Later that year, I organized a rally of over 20,000 people in Ottawa to protest missile testing in Canada. I continued this work by engaging Canadians in the 1983-4 federal election, raising peace and development issues through the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC). From 1985-1987, I worked with the Coalition Against the Return of the Death Penalty to prevent capital punishment from returning to Canada. As Project Director for the Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC) from 1987-1996, I focused on community alternatives to incarceration, family violence, and restorative justice, and I organized the first national Symposium on Restorative Justice in Vancouver in 1997.

From 1998 to 2003, I founded and coordinated the Collaborative Justice Project at the Ottawa Courthouse, offering restorative justice options in serious criminal cases. Since 1997, I've worked as a facilitator and trainer for Correctional Service Canada's Restorative Opportunities program, helping facilitate engagement between family members of homicide victims and offenders. From 2003 to 2015, I served as the United Church's General Council Officer for Residential Schools, guiding the Church in addressing the legacy of the Indian Residential School system. This included negotiations for the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement in 2006 and the Church’s participation in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008-2015).

I served as a Keeper of the Vision for the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre, an Indigenous theological college, from 2019-2022 and was appointed to the Steering Committee for the Residential Schools National Monument by Canadian Heritage in 2022. In recognition of my work, I received the Ron Wiebe Award for leadership in restorative justice from Correctional Service Canada in 1999. I was also honored with Doctor of Divinity degrees from both United Theological College (2017) and Vancouver School of Theology (2018) for my commitment to Indigenous concerns and my work with the Church on reconciliation.

In 2019, I was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for my leadership in advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and for advocating restorative justice. In 2021, I received the Emmanuel Theological College Alumni Service Award for my efforts to reform Canada's criminal justice system and my role in the truth and reconciliation process with Indigenous peoples. My work has been deeply influenced by a commitment to justice, healing, and reconciliation for Indigenous peoples in Canada, and I continue to serve and advocate for these values in every aspect of my ministry and work.