QUESTION PERIOD — Justice
Disproportionality of Indigenous Women in Incarceration
May 5, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is to the Government Representative.
Senator Gold, this is an issue that has come up many times in many ways, but today, May 5, 2022, is Red Dress Day in Canada and the United States. The top-of-the-fold headline in Canada’s major newspapers today was that the female population in our prisons is now 298 Indigenous women and 298 non-Indigenous women. In this country, roughly speaking, there is 1 Indigenous woman for 20 others.
So many efforts have been made. So many governments have made so many promises. This statistic on this day poses a devastating reality for all of us to grapple with. If you could, please, share with the chamber what more is being done by the government.
Thank you. It is shocking and scandalous. To those of us who have had some exposure to or experience with the criminal justice system, it is, alas, not surprising.
The legacy of colonialism and systemic racism that have infected too many of our institutions and criminal justice is too well-known — perhaps it should be better known to all Canadians, but it is certainly well-known to this government. The government has taken a number of steps to do its part to see if this trend can not only be reversed but properly and fully addressed.
Some aspects of it are in criminal law reforms that will make their way here, such as reducing the mandatory minimum provisions in the Criminal Code, which have had and will continue to have a disproportionate impact on Indigenous offenders, and women in particular. Other aspects are more designed to strengthen the resilience of communities so that the lack of options doesn’t lead some to take risks and end up within the criminal justice system.
Other measures include supporting the work of law enforcement, whether it is the RCMP or others, to address the lack of diversity or shortcomings in their policing in Indigenous communities.
It is such a complex, deeply rooted and tragic situation that there is no magic bullet, and there is no one answer. This government is committed to doing what it can, as effectively as it can, to address this.
