On Friday June 10th, 2011, my close friend and Drug Treatment Court pioneer Justice Paul Bentley died peacefully with his family by his side.
This is a profound loss on a personal and professional level. Paul’s courage, compassion, kindness and eternal optimism was always evident in his dealings with others and during his long illness.
On rare occasions in this journey called life we have the pleasure and privilege of meeting and sharing some of life’s precious moments with an all round wonderful human being. Paul was one of those rare gems: an all round wonderful human being.
As a lawyer, Paul practised civil litigation. He also worked at the Parkdale legal clinic and with Amnesty International. Paul sat on the board of a number of charities, such as the Daily Bread Food Bank and Amnesty International. Paul was a founding member of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, a board member of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals.
In June 1992, Paul was appointed a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice. In 1997, in my capacity as team leader of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada operations at Old City Hall, I was assigned to help a judge implement an idea called Drug Treatment Courts. In those days, I thought it was a definitely a bad idea.
In my view, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada at that time did not have the resources for another project. It was difficult enough keeping up with existing caseloads, much less another well-intentioned, but, in my then very humble view, utopian project. All I had to do, I thought, was slowly and respectfully let this judge know that his idea was a non-starter. Given my self-perceived excellent skills of persuasion, I was confident that this was going to be an easy task. I clearly had no idea who I was dealing with.
I first met Paul outside the Old City Hall Court House, on Albert Street, at a pre- determined time. We were en route to visit and observe Judge Russell’s Drug Treatment Court, in Buffalo. As I entered the front passenger side of his vehicle, he smiled and stretched out his hand and said, “Hello, I am Paul Bentley.” The rest is history.
I met a remarkable human being: A man who believed in the ability of the human spirit to overcome all obstacles; a man who was passionate about the reconstruction of the human spirit and the holistic rehabilitation of the human being one step at a time, one brick at a time; a man who gave expression to this in so many ways, one of which was through the multidisciplinary partnership called Drug Treatment Court.
Almost thirteen years ago, on December 1st, 1998, a then Federal Prosecutor, I stood before Mr. Justice Paul Bentley as he uttered these words, “Welcome to Canada’s first Drug Treatment Court.” In those days, the very existence of such a court was a revolution in Canadian criminal justice. It was not widely accepted and was expected to fail. It certainly was not seen as a career-advancing project in the prosecution office. It is amazing how times have changed.
We battled together to make Canada’s first Drug Treatment Court successful and to make it thrive. I watched with admiration and respect as Paul overcame obstacles one after the other, how he inspired others to believe in his vision.
In 1999, Paul worked as a member of a United Nations Expert Working Group. The task of this group was to design a court-based treatment program in both common and civil law jurisdictions. We became partners in efforts to share the good news about this multidisciplinary method of instilling accountability and achieving long-term holistic rehabilitation.
Paul travelled around the world spreading his message, sharing his vision with others. He travelled to several countries such as France, Brazil, Chile, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Scotland, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, etc. Paul would either travel alone or he would take a multidisciplinary team to conduct some training. Many international visitors visited the Toronto Drug Treatment Court at Old City Hall. In the end, every continent in the globe was exposed to Paul’s Drug Treatment Court and Problem Solving Court message.
Paul loved life; he loved people. On these international training trips, I watched with admiration how he inspired people of all stripes to act and how he helped them believe that obstacles could be overcome. Paul’s generosity and compassion seemed endless. Whether he was interacting with people as a group or speaking to them one on one, his positive impact and charisma were obvious.
Paul was really curious and a student of life. He had boundless energy, and frankly, I could not keep up. The international training sessions we and the multidisciplinary team designed typically lasted an average of two to three days. After a long day of conducting training, all I wanted to do was find a quiet pool or beach and relax. Not Paul; he wanted to explore his surroundings. Paul made sure that we all found time to explore our surroundings. He would organize sightseeing trips. He would say, “Let’s go.” My response always was, “But, Paul, we just finished almost eight hours of training. I am simply exhausted.” He would respond, “Come along, you will enjoy it.”
Our last trip was to a Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals conference, in Banff, in October 2010. Paul planned an elaborate sightseeing trip and, despite the fact that he was ill, insisted on driving us around himself. There was so much to see, he said. He wanted to make sure we had a memorable experience. Each trip was an adventure filled with cherished memories of the places we saw. We are left with cherished memories of our interactions with that special human being called Paul who brought a special quality to everything we did with him.
In 2005, Paul founded the International Association of Drug Treatment Courts, an umbrella organization of several countries, which shared his vision for the reconstruction of the human spirit through Drug Treatment Courts. He published several articles on the subject, for example, in the Criminal Reports and the Canadian Family Physician’s Journal.
Paul accelerated a dialogue in the criminal justice system that transcended Drug Treatment Courts. It is the dialogue about the introduction of multidisciplinary partnerships into the criminal justice system to promote accountability and holistic rehabilitation. This dialogue has contributed in no small measure to the creation of Problem Solving Courts of all makes and stripes in Canada and abroad.
Paul edited a paper entitled, “Problems Solving Courts as Agents of Change”, published in the Commonwealth Judges and Magistrates Journal. He was a contributing editor to a handbook on how judges can apply the Problem Solving Court approach in their courtrooms. This has been published in Canada by the National Judicial Institute.
In honour of this unique human being, in 2006, the Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals established its highest award, the Paul Bentley Award, to be awarded to persons who have made significant contributions to Drug Treatment Courts in Canada. In 2006, Paul Bentley was the first recipient of this award.
In so many ways Paul has created and left a legacy. Drug Treatment Courts and Problem Solving Courts have found their way into the Bar Admission Course materials of new lawyers and into the curriculum of judicial and lawyer training programs.
Across Canada, thirteen courts call themselves Drug Treatment Courts. Many jurisdictions across Canada are in various stages of planning their own Drug Treatment Courts. Through the courage and perseverance of one man, thousands have participated in the holistic, rehabilitative and accountability program of the Drug Treatment Courts.
All across our great country, and internationally, lives have been saved, families reunited, criminal behaviour reduced because one man dared to believe, dared to act, and dared to make us believe that we can overcome.
On May 19, 2011, the Honourable Justice F.M. Weinper, of the Ontario Court of Justice, was presiding over a trial. In the course of testimony, a witness paid tribute to the Honourable Justice Paul Bentley. Here is an excerpt of what that witness had to say:
“THE WITNESS: Up until I was 29 years old, I mean I had progressed, a lot of drinking, smoking marijuana, the eventual use of crack cocaine. Where I ended up after a few years of that, the beginning of the crack cocaine use, I ended up living on the streets for a little over three years. And I indulged in complete self destruction, self care -- to say that I was trying to find my place in my life, but yet, at the same time, I was very lost and I found some sort of community in that circle, which is what kept me around there. And there’s a lot of people reaching out -- outreach in that kind of lifestyle and there’s a lot of people that you can relate to that have similar histories that you have.
And I was able to find community there and that’s what kept me there until, finally -- should I continue? – yeah -- until finally, I was intervened by the grace of the courts through a Drug Treatment Court program where I was arrested for a trafficking charge of selling $20.00 piece of crack cocaine to an undercover cop, which I was doing to support my habit. And that intervention proceeded for me into a year-and-a-half clean and it was a very rigid and intense program where it did a lot of work for me. It helped me a lot. It helped me to establish a healthier connection with society, with the courts, with the police.”
“THE COURT: Was this through the Drug Treatment Court downtown?”
“The WITNESS: Yes, it was. It was Judge Bentley, who I think runs that -- still runs -- and he was a wonderful man and everyone in it was wonderful and really helped me to reconnect in ways that were really relevant and important to me.”
On countless occasions, I watched Paul encourage and inspire others to be strong, to be optimistic, to believe in themselves, to believe that they could reach that promise land. He simply brought out the best in others and himself.
Over the course of his long illness, I watched Paul exude those same qualities. He kept plugging away at various day-to-day tasks, his projects. He strove to enjoy his family, enjoy his life. He kept it “business as usual” for as long as he could. He exuded boundless and infectious optimism always discussing some plan for the present and the future, leading some of us to believe that, despite the seriousness of his illness, somehow, through some miracle, he would be with us for many, many, many more years.
As he gave of himself, as he reached out to others, as he inspired others, it was clear that his wife, Sally, and his daughters, Jessica and Shoshanna, were special. He loved his family so much. He was proud of his family. They gave him strength, his solid foundation. From them, his family, he always derived comfort.
Paul would want us to remember and cherish our memories of him and carry on. Paul’s favourite expression, borrowed from his mother, was, “Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.” His life exemplified that.
I will remember his smile, his way of inspiring others, his generosity, his gentle but firm way of giving me a list of “to dos” and making sure that they were done, his love for life, his compassion, optimism and fierce determination, and his friendship.
Sally, Jessica, Shoshanna, words cannot express your profound loss, but your husband and father was a special man. He touched the lives of many and your love gave him extreme strength and comfort.
“So, my friend, your journey is over. It was truly a pleasure and a privilege to have known you. God bless you. Rest in peace, my friend, rest in peace.”
Mr. Justice Kofi Barnes
Chair
Canadian Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals