High Indigenous prison rate ‘unacceptable’: Supreme Court chief justice
OTTAWA — The over-representation of Indigenous people in prison is “unacceptable” and reveals a serious problem, says Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner.
“That’s a terrible situation, I must say,” Wagner told a rare news conference Friday. “I mean, the rate is too high.”
In 2015-16, Indigenous people represented almost one-quarter of the total federal offender population.
In addition, a lower percentage of Indigenous offenders have benefited from gradual release from custody than non-Indigenous ones.