In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne talks to Kent Roach about his book, Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2023.

In Wrongfully Convicted, Kent Roach raises awareness about wrongful convictions in Canada at a time when DNA exonerations are less frequent, and the memories of most famous cases are fading. Roach exposes lesser-known cases where defendants feel they have no option but to plead guilty, and where people have been convicted of crimes imagined by experts or police that never, in fact, happened. Roach makes a compelling case for better legislative regulation of police and forensic experts and the creation of a permanent and independent federal commission both to investigate wrongful convictions and their multiple causes. Though the issue affects all Canadians, Roach’s work reveals that the burden of wrongful convictions falls disproportionately on the disadvantaged, including Indigenous and racialized people, those with cognitive issues, single mothers, and the poor.

Kent Roach is a professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He is also cofounder of the Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions, and an award-winning author, who has spent his career documenting flaws in the Canadian justice system. Roach served as volume lead for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Report on the Legacy of Residential Schools and, in 2015, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Image Credit:  Canada. Department of Manpower and Immigration. Library and Archives Canada, e010996348 /

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Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice

This episode of "In Touch With Quinte" aired on Friday, September 29, 2023.

Callie Hill, the Executive Director of Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na
Language and Cultural Centre, joined us as apart of Truth and Reconciliation Week. The Centre is located on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

Susanne Quinlan, Director of Operations with Gleaners Food Bank, then joined us to talk about their city-wide food drive in Belleville.

In Touch With Quinte - September 29, 2023

The first episode of The Sisters Circle, a discussion around Indigenous matters in Canada with two women who identify as an "Indigenous Indian Woman" and a "Settler White Woman", touching down on subjects like the importance of reconciliation, Canada's Indigenous history including residentail schools, and how to move forward together.

The Sisters Circle: Episode 1

Ensuring that Indigenous peoples have control over data related to Residential Schools, health, census and more is crucial to truth and reconciliation in Canada

What is Indigenous data sovereignty and why does it matter?

Providing Muskokansn with stories to tell, the power to engage with local listeners through podcasting.

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Immerse yourself in Canada’s history! Witness to Yesterday episodes take listeners on a journey to document a time in Canada’s past and explore the people behind it, its significance, and its relevance to today. If you like our work, please consider supporting it: https://bit.ly/support_WTY. To learn more about the Society and Canada’s history, subscribe to our newsletter at https://bit.ly/news_WTY.

New tracks tagged #Truth and Reconciliation