QUESTION PERIOD — Justice
Disproportionality of Indigenous Women in Incarceration
June 19, 2025
Senator Gold, as we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day this weekend, few of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or TRC, and the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, or MMIWG, have been realized. The government has committed to act and implement each of these calls.
The MMIWG National Inquiry recognized that the same issues that give rise to Indigenous women being disproportionately victimized, disappeared, murdered and on the streets are the same issues that result in them being the fastest growing prison population such that they are now one in two of the women in the federal penitentiaries.
What is the government’s plan to decarcerate the over 300 Indigenous women currently in federal penitentiaries in order to meet its commitment to TRC Call to Action 30 to eliminate the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in prison by the end of this year?
Thank you for your question and your continued advocacy on this issue before and during your time in the Senate.
The overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, and women in particular, is a serious and complex issue and is rooted in systemic racism and our unfortunate legacy. That is why the government has introduced the Indigenous Justice Strategy, which lays out a vision and priority areas in Canada for working with Indigenous peoples, with the provinces and with the territories to ensure positive and lasting change in our Canadian justice system.
I cannot commit to a timetable, but this government remains committed to that important work going forward.
Thank you for that, Senator Gold. But since the inception of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act in 1992, and reinforced by subsequent reports, commissions of inquiry, investigations, advisory committees and correctional investigator reports — all of which have been mentioned previously and have existed for more than 33 years — there still has not been action.
What concrete steps are being taken beyond that strategy to ensure immediate rollout and proper funding of the community-based, Indigenous-led initiatives that must be fully in place this year?
The steps that the government is taking include continuing to work with Indigenous peoples, communities and other stakeholders in the system to make progress on this very important and pressing social matter.
