New Indigenous Justice Strategy aims to address overincarceration of Indigenous people

Jackie McKay · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 7:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Indigenous justness experts are welcoming Canada's caller Indigenous Justice Strategy, but immoderate are disappointed astatine its lack of factual adjacent steps.

The strategy was released connected March 10 and lays retired 26 precedence actions aimed astatine addressing systemic favoritism and overrepresentation of Indigenous radical successful the justness system. It was created with the input of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis assemblage members, organizations and provincial and territorial governments. 

"I deliberation immoderate strategy that advances and provides entree for Indigenous radical and is aimed and targeted astatine removing overrepresentation oregon reversing the overrepresentation is highly important," said Kory Wilson, seat of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council.

The B.C. First Nations Justice Council was created successful 2015 to enactment connected transforming the justness strategy to beryllium much equitable for Indigenous radical successful the province. It is moving to instrumentality the B.C. First Nations Justice Strategy that was created successful 2020. 

Wilson said the B.C. strategy has had a batch of occurrence for Indigenous radical successful the state and hopes the nationalist strategy would bash the same. 

"The world is the justness strategy arsenic exists successful Canada needs to beryllium much accessible and much alert of the challenges facing Indigenous radical truthful determination needs to beryllium an overhaul of the full system," said Wilson. 

The incarceration complaint of Indigenous persons successful provincial custody was astir 9 times higher than for non-Indigenous persons successful 2020/2021, according to Statistics Canada. On an mean time successful 2020/2021 determination were 42.6 Indigenous radical successful provincial custody per 10,000 population, compared to 4 non-Indigenous people. 

The strategy contains circumstantial chapters connected priorities for First Nations, Métis and Inuit. 

The First Nations section focuses connected reforming the justness strategy to amended see First Nations laws and traditions to woody with the overrepresentation and favoritism First Nations radical presently face. 

"The revitalization of Indigenous laws and Indigenous ways of knowing and however we've worked successful the past has to commencement to beryllium recognized," said Wilson. 

The Inuit section of the strategy talks astir the request for accrued infrastructure similar housing, shelters, and transitional lodging to assistance trim interactions with the justness system, forestall crimes and enactment rehabilitation, arsenic good arsenic ensuring determination are services, policing, and materials disposable successful Inuktut. 

Implementation a concern 

Christina Cook, a lawyer successful B.C. and a subordinate of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation successful Manitoba, said she is cautiously optimistic astir the Indigenous Justice Strategy but that "It's besides a spot disappointing that the study doesn't incorporate a batch of factual adjacent steps. There's a batch of aspirational connection contained therein."

Cook said she is blessed to spot the authorities instrumentality steps to code systemic favoritism and overrepresentation of Indigenous radical successful the justness system, but anticipation the implementation leads to existent change. 

"It's a batch of recycling of erstwhile reports and recommendations, which is frustrating, but it could beryllium transformative and positive, could it really effect successful factual changes," said Cook. 

Justice Canada said successful a connection that the strategy volition usher continued collaboration with Indigenous radical and governments arsenic determination implementation plans are developed implicit the adjacent 2 years. 

Cook said her interest about implementation comes from the deficiency of enactment connected erstwhile authorities reports similar Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry or the nationalist enquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. 

"It's casual to diagnose the problem, but it's hard to really hole it," said Cook.