Indigenous women now make up half of the female population in federal penitentiaries, a situation the Canadian prison ombudsman calls “shocking and embarrassing.”
As of last week, 298 non-indigenous women and 298 indigenous women have been held in federal prisons. This is the first time the ratio has reached 50/50, the ombudsman, criminal investigator Ivan Singer, told The Globe. One in 20 women in Canada is indigenous.
Ottawa has made countless promises over the years to address the over-representation of indigenous peoples in prison. In its 2001 speech on the throne, Chrétien’s government vowed to eliminate disparities within a generation. Indigenous imprisonment has risen under the Harper government, which has introduced a series of mandatory minimum sentences that criminologists say have a disproportionate impact on indigenous peoples.
In 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s letters of mandate urged the Ministers of Justice and Public Safety to address the problem of over-representation. But this trend has opposed all government efforts turn it over.
“It’s just shocking and embarrassing for a country that has so many resources,” Dr. Singer said.
The incidence rate of Canadian indigenous peoples has been rising for decades. Twenty-six years ago, an investigation into Kingston’s The women’s prison found that indigenous women made up 19 percent of them women prisoners in the country.
In 1999, the year, the iconic decision of the Supreme Court of Canada Gladue announced that over-representation Indigenous prisons are a “crisis in the Canadian penal system,” and Indigenous men and women together make up 12 percent of federal prisoners in the country. They now make up 32 percent.
These figures do not take into account indigenous peoples who are prisoners in provincial prisons.
Prisoners in federal custody in Canada
Daily count, held on April 24
local population:
4040 (32.7%)
Non-local:
8,298 (67.3%)
Note: Indigenous women make up 4.9 percent of Canadian women
female population, according to Canadian statistics.
globe and mail, Source: Office of the
Executive Investigator
Prisoners in federal custody in Canada
Daily count, held on April 24
local population:
4040 (32.7%)
Non-local:
8,298 (67.3%)
Note: Indigenous women make up 4.9 percent of Canadian women
female population, according to Canadian statistics.
globe and mail, Source: Office of the
Executive Investigator
Prisoners in federal custody in Canada
Daily count, held on April 24
local population:
4040 (32.7%)
Non-local:
8,298 (67.3%)
Note: Indigenous women make up 4.9 per cent of Canada’s female population,
according to Canadian statistics.
globe and mail, Source: Office of the Correctional Investigator
Dr. Singer and his predecessors have warned of a relentless increase in the number of indigenous prisoners for years and issued recommendations designed to limit the increase. But it is difficult to get the government to act, he said.
For example, in 2004, Howard Sappers, then a correctional investigator, called for a new Canadian Correctional Service (CSC) official. for Deputy Commissioner, dedicated entirely to overseeing indigenous programs and working with local communities.
Nothing came of the idea until 2018, when the National Indigenous Investigation of Missing and Murdered Women and Girls (MMIWG) made the proposal one of its 231 calls for justice. Although the government ultimately agreed to give priority to hiring a deputy commissioner for indigenous adjustments, the hiring process has not yet begun. On Tuesday, CSC spokeswoman Marie Pierre Lecouier said in an email that Commissioner Anne Kelly was “open” to creating the position.
Dr Singer said he wanted the CSC to direct a significant portion of its budget to indigenous groups to use them to fund indigenous-run correctional facilities across the country.
“CSC continues to look for opportunities to expand relationships with local partners, which are crucial for the provision of culturally responsive interventions and services,” said Ms. Lequier.
The MMIWG study found that most indigenous women who become entangled in the criminal justice system are arrested for poverty crimes, such as theft. “Not that they are criminals by nature, but that they are poor,” said Marion Buhler, who was chief commissioner of the investigation.
Once involved in the courts, indigenous peoples tend to receive higher security classifications and lower reintegration scores than non-indigenous prisoners, which reduces their chances of serving part of their sentences outside high-security prisons. People with a lower risk rating may be allowed to spend part of their time in less secure facilities, where prisoners tend to have more freedom and a better quality of life.
“It’s really scary when you go to jail and see mostly Indigenous women and people of different genders,” said Emily Coyle, executive director of the Canadian Association of Societies of Elizabeth Fry, a group that advocates for Canadian women in prison. . “It simply came to our notice then that this was a continuation of colonization. Every participant in the so-called judiciary must take responsibility for their role. “
In 1996, Ottawa sought to address the issue of over-representation of indigenous peoples in prison with a provision in the Penal Code that instructed judges to take into account a person’s background during sentencing. The government’s hope was that this would soften sentences and deters a significant number of indigenous people from imprisonment. The decision of the Supreme Court in 1999 Gladue upheld the provision.
The court’s intervention led to the creation of Gladue reports detailing the offender’s indigenous population to support the sentence and bail orders. But Ms Coyle said the reports were not readily available in many provinces. And because the reports may detail a person’s past violence and addiction problems, they can be used to justify higher security classifications for prisoners.
“These Gladue factors become a risk when you go to jail,” Ms Coyle said. “If you go to the maximum security units that are designed for women all over Canada, you will see mostly indigenous women. From there, it’s harder to be released from prison because it takes a long time to move from maximum security to the general population and then eventually be released. “
For those who are lucky enough to be diverted far from prison, the options are few.
“Speaking as a former judge, I can say that in many communities there are no options available because governments have not funded restorative justice programs,” Ms Buhler said. “The lack of options contradicts Gladue’s decision and the Canadian Penal Code.
If Canada wants to tackle the over-representation of Indigenous women in prison, it will probably have to look beyond the criminal justice system. Racial inequalities behind bars reflect racial inequalities in Canadian society, Ms Buller said.
“The main factors we heard over and over again were poverty, violence, genetic trauma, dislocation,” she said. “Until these factors are properly addressed, we will see that the numbers increase.”
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