QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Overrepresentation of Indigenous People in Prisons
March 26, 2026
Thank you very much, Senator Moreau. As you know, government data indicates that 96% of women in structured intervention units are Indigenous. Most of them are struggling with mental health issues. Isolation prevents women from completing their correctional plan, delays access to parole and means they spend a longer time in prison. As you have heard from our colleagues, the government missed its Truth and Reconciliation Commission commitment deadline, and right now we are looking at legislative measures that will likely —
Thank you, Senator Pate.
Senator Pate, I know that you were present yesterday when the Minister of Justice was at the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, and you raised those important issues with him.
He made a commitment. He knows that we have to work upstream to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous women, for instance, in prison, and that is why the global strategy of the government is working to address the issue before people enter the justice system. I’m sure that working in the committee, you will —
Thank you, Senator Moreau.
