(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Alarming prison numbers

Crunching the chronic numbers: Indigenous incarceration rates keep rising

Jan 22, 2020 | 5:32 PM

The proportion of Indigenous people in federal custody has reached a historic high and is increasing.

Saskatchewan’s numbers are alarming and First Nation leaders say it’s imperative both senior levels of government offer more funding and control over how resources are deployed.

According to a release from Canada’s prison ombudsman on Tuesday, over 30 per cent of federal inmates are Indigenous. In Saskatchewan, that number climbs to 65 per cent.

Despite the fact the Indigenous population makes up only 16 per cent of the general population, three out of every four people taken in federal or provincial custody in Saskatchewan in 2017/2018 were Indigenous, according to Statistics Canada.

Indigenous women made up 82 per cent of women admitted into Saskatchewan jails during the same period.

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Band-aid solutions

“This is a country that has spent its entire existence, for the large part, removing opportunities and taking every possible chance to attack Indigenous culture,” Pierre Hawkins, public legal counsel at the John Howard Society told paNOW. “When you do those two things and take them together it’s unsurprising that people end up in the correctional system.”

Hawkins said investment is needed to address a lack of skills training and cultural and educational programming for inmates.

“I think people would be surprised how little support corrections officers receive from the government in delivering programming that’s geared towards preventing people from reoffending, giving them opportunities and helping them to reconnect with their cultures and find a sense of self,” he said.

But ultimately, Hawkins said programs inside correctional facilities are “band-aid” solutions to a bigger societal problem.

“We have to ensure that Indigenous youth, and Indigenous people generally, have opportunities to participate in the economy, to build strong communities and reconnect with their culture.”

‘We know how to heal our people’

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice-Chief Heather Bear linked the over representation of Indigenous people behind bars to a broader crisis in Indigenous communities caused by historical and contemporary wrongs.

She said communities and leaders have solutions – like more Indigenous lawyers, improved mental healthcare, and better access to ceremony and elders in prison – but the federal and provincial governments need to support them.

“We know how to heal our people,” she said. “So come on Canada, come on Saskatchewan, let go of the purse strings, let go of that control. I’m sure when they do that, you’ll see a difference in those statistics.”

(Office of the Correctional Investigator)

Calls to Action

Both Bear and the federal correctional investigator called on the government of Canada to implement calls to action raised by the Truth and Reconciliation and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Measures include:

• Transfer resources and responsibility to Indigenous groups and communities for the care, custody and supervision of Indigenous offenders.
• Appoint a Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections.
• Increase access and availability of culturally relevant correctional programming.
• Clarify and enhance the role of Indigenous elders.
• Improve engagement with Indigenous communities and enhance their capacity to provide reintegration services.
• Enhance access to screening, diagnosis and treatment of Indigenous offenders affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

“It is not acceptable that Indigenous people in this country experience incarceration rates that are six to seven times higher than the national average,” Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger Bold said in a media release. “Urgent action is required to address one of Canada’s most persistent and pressing human rights issues.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom