Lawyer wants inquiry into aboriginal incarceration in Saskatchewan

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While aboriginal adults in correctional services exceed their representation in the general population in all provinces and territories, the gap is largest in Saskatchewan. The representation is seven times greater (81 per cent), according to 2007-2008 statistics. In Manitoba, 69 per cent of adults sentenced to custody are aboriginal and 39 per cent in Alberta are aboriginal.

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As of April 2013, there were 54 active dangerous offenders in Saskatchewan, 45 in Alberta and 17 in Manitoba, according to Corrections Canada. 

“What I would like to see is some analysis into what’s driving those numbers. Is it a policy directive through Saskatchewan justice? Is it individual prosecutors?” Nolin asked.

“Is it simply that the offender committed a more violent crime and he received a sentence accordingly?”

Recent criticism has been aimed at Saskatchewan judges, saying there is a lack of references to the Gladue factors — specific factors that need to be considered when sentencing aboriginal offenders– in sentencing decisions. Nolin said he doesn’t think the province’s judges are out of tune with the Gladue report.

“They may not be specifically reiterating them in their sentencing decisions, but from a guy that’s in the trenches on a day-to-day basis, I see them utilizing them,” Nolin said. He believes the system needs better programming to help offenders reintegrate back into society.

He pointed to the fact that the only community correctional centre in Saskatchewan for violent offenders making parole is in Regina.

“If you have an offender who has grown up in an area like Fond du Lac, served his time in the penitentiary in Prince Albert, and he has to reside a portion of his parole in a designated facility according to the parole board, he has to do it in Regina. He’s removed probably 1,000 kilometres from his home community and his family. It makes it so much more difficult for an offender to reintegrate under those circumstances.”

Nolin suggested that the facility in Regina may be part of the reason why an offender would reoffend.

A call for a full inquiry has been met with some resistance, Nolin said, because the extent of the problem is not fully understood.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow