Governor General recognizes the late Liz Elliott

SFU criminologist Liz Elliott, who was a driving force behind Canada’s restorative justice movement, has been recognized posthumously with a Meritorious Service Medal, civil division, from the Governor General of Canada.

The award recognizes outstanding accomplishments that set an example for others to follow and that benefit the country.

Elliott, who died in 2011 at age 54, was a staunch advocate for using restorative justice techniques to improve prisoners’ living conditions and help them re-integrate into society upon their release.

A co-founder of the Centre for Restorative Justice in the School of Criminology, she spent more than three decades teaching, researching and reaching out to prison inmates. Her work has been recognized with many awards, including the 2010 Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award from Correctional Services Canada.