Strategic Plan 2020-2023

Leading, promoting and facilitating quality mediation and other collaborative dispute resolution processes in British Columbia.

Since its earliest days, Mediate BC Society has been a not-for-profit organization that serves and protects the public by promoting professionalism and quality in mediation and other collaborative dispute resolution processes.  The history of Mediate BC Society and its predecessor organizations has been one of public service in partnership with government and other public service bodies.  We aim to continue and expand this service and these partnerships.

Mediate BC Society continues to serve the public interest and ensure access to safe alternatives to manage disputes by setting standards of qualification and conduct for our Rosters of mediators and med-arbitrators, providing professional mediation training, and conducting research and evaluation to further develop professional practice. We also serve the public through educational programing which we hold throughout the province. We coordinate and offer public forums about the value of self-determination and choice in methods of conflict management that may be better alternatives to litigation.  Through our public programs, we empower British Columbians to determine the process and the outcomes of their legal disputes, economize on resources of money and time, and take greater control over their own future. In addition, by supporting members of the public in resolving their own disputes, we free government resources to be allocated towards other access to justice goals.

The following summarizes the Mediate BC strategic plan developed by the Board, key staff and selected partners to build upon Mediate BC’s experience in the justice sector, and contemplates the emerging need for more and improved access to justice for the people of British Columbia. We believe that Mediate BC can and will play a key role in providing greater opportunities for individuals and families in conflict to access quality and culturally appropriate solutions that leverage collaboration, self-determination and choice.

OUR VISION  

A civil society where mediation and other collaborative dispute resolution processes are trusted and widely accessed by its citizens.

OUR MISSION

Leading, promoting and facilitating quality mediation and other collaborative dispute resolution processes in British Columbia.

OUR KEY PRIORITIES

1. Deliver excellent service to the people of British Columbia through public education and managing rosters of qualified dispute resolution professionals.
2. Plan for effective infrastructure to support Mediate BC’s growth and development.
3. Advocate for quality and ethical dispute resolution services through public policy development and professional regulation.
4. Expand dispute resolution rosters to new sectors.
5. Concentrate outreach efforts to enhance access to justice in Indigenous and rural and remote communities in British Columbia.

These five interrelated priorities are meant to be aspirational.  The Society is confident that we have the existing skills and relationships which will enable us to carry these initiatives forward.  That said, we appreciate that our ability to undertake and expand many of the initiatives below will be in part a function of the maintenance of existing funding and the availability of incremental funding.  They are also interdependent, in that achieving aspects of some is necessary to allow for increased resources to achieve others.

DELIVERY STRATEGIES

The following summarizes more detailed workplans which have been developed to support the delivery by Mediate BC on each of our five key priorities. 

Key Priority #1: Excellence in Service Delivery

Our Board has identified the relationships with our key partners and funders as essential to delivering on the vision and mission of the Society. In order to maintain, improve and develop our relationships with these key partners and funders, we commit to performing on our current contracts with diligence, integrity and accountability, and to strengthening and enhancing these key relationships.

Key Priority #2: Mediate BC infrastructure

The Mediate BC Board has identified diversified funding as an essential priority for the long-term sustainability of the organization.  To this end, we are currently exploring the possibility of obtaining status as a registered charity. This will allow us greater access to a variety of incremental funders to support our efforts. Such a funding strategy will also grow our network of collaborators and partners in a common cause of enhancing justice for all.  We will identify and pursue other opportunities and sources for funding to support and sustain the key functions of Mediate BC, including information and communications, use of technology, facilities management, program delivery and human resources.

Key Priority #3: Serving the public through advocacy for quality and ethical dispute resolution practice

Mediation and arbitration are unregulated professions in British Columbia (and Canada), presenting a risk to all British Columbians and most particularly to members of more vulnerable groups.  The Rosters that the Society has created and managed for the last 21 years have provided assurance to disputants that they will be afforded a well-trained, competent and ethical mediator or med-arbitrator.  We offer this assurance not only by creating standards for admission and renewal to our Rosters, but also through a complaints process for parties who believe their mediator has acted unethically or without adequate competence.  Mediate BC advocates for the users of the justice system.

We are proud of the public benefit we have brought in this area in the past, and we believe there is still more that can be done to provide protection to the public. The Society, in partnership with other like-minded organizations in the province, will explore the need for greater professional oversight of dispute resolution practitioners. While we appreciate that there are many practical and policy issues to be addressed with such a move, we anticipate partnering with MAG to explore mechanisms that could provide such greater oversight.

Key Priority #4: Roster expansion

In order to capitalize on Mediate BC’s expertise as a roster organization, we will explore partnerships with other DR practitioner groups to manage their rosters. By coordinating or managing more rosters, we will be positioned to offer more public education programming to the public.  Our staff regularly receive feedback from the public about being overwhelmed by the amount and variability of information available on dispute resolution options in the province.  Playing a larger role in roster management, Mediate BC will be better able to serve people experiencing conflict by providing a central resource for triage and referral.

Key Priority #5: Community outreach to underserved and vulnerable communities

In fulfillment of our mission to lead, promote and facilitate quality dispute resolution processes to the citizens of British Columbia, we recognize that some residents have fewer means to access justice than others.  This is due to a variety of factors including socio-economic status, geography, and the range of personal characteristics protected under human rights law (including gender, race and ethnicity).  We have committed to focus our community outreach efforts over the next three years to enhance service to those who have been historically marginalized, specifically indigenous communities [1] and those living in rural and remote British Columbia.  

To connect with and support marginalized communities and vulnerable citizens, we will be guided by A2JBC’s Triple Aim Measurement Framework, which Mediate BC has endorsed, to improve population access to justice, user experience of access to justice and costs.[2]