New Indigenous Justice Strategy aims to address overincarceration of Indigenous people

Indigenous justice experts are welcoming Canada's new Indigenous Justice Strategy, but some are disappointed at its lack of concrete next steps.

The strategy was released on March 10 and lays out 26 priority actions aimed at addressing systemic discrimination and overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system. It was created with the input of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis community members, organizations and provincial and territorial governments. 

"I think any strategy that advances and provides access for Indigenous people and is aimed and targeted at removing overrepresentation or reversing the overrepresentation is extremely important," said Kory Wilson, chair of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council.

The B.C. First Nations Justice Council was created in 2015 to work on transforming the justice system to be more equitable for Indigenous people in the province. It is working to implement the B.C. First Nations Justice Strategy that was created in 2020. 

Wilson said the B.C. strategy has had a lot of success for Indigenous people in the province and hopes the national strategy would do the same. 

"The reality is the justice system as exists in Canada needs to be more accessible and more aware of the challenges facing Indigenous people so there needs to be an overhaul of the entire system," said Wilson. 

The incarceration rate of Indigenous persons in provincial custody was about nine times higher than for non-Indigenous persons in 2020/2021, according to Statistics Canada. On an average day in 2020/2021 there were 42.6 Indigenous people in provincial custody per 10,000 population, compared to four non-Indigenous people. 

The strategy contains specific chapters on priorities for First Nations, Métis and Inuit. 

The First Nations chapter focuses on reforming the justice system to better include First Nations laws and traditions to deal with the overrepresentation and discrimination First Nations people currently face. 

"The revitalization of Indigenous laws and Indigenous ways of knowing and how we've worked in the past has to start to be recognized," said Wilson. 

The Inuit chapter of the strategy talks about the need for increased infrastructure like housing, shelters, and transitional housing to help reduce interactions with the justice system, prevent crimes and support rehabilitation, as well as ensuring there are services, policing, and materials available in Inuktut. 

Implementation a concern 

Christina Cook, a lawyer in B.C. and a member of Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba, said she is cautiously optimistic about the Indigenous Justice Strategy but that "It's also a bit disappointing that the report doesn't contain a lot of concrete next steps. There's a lot of aspirational language contained therein."

Cook said she is happy to see the government take steps to address systemic discrimination and overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system, but hope the implementation leads to real change. 

"It's a lot of recycling of previous reports and recommendations, which is frustrating, but it could be transformative and positive, could it actually result in concrete changes," said Cook. 

Justice Canada said in a statement that the strategy will guide continued collaboration with Indigenous people and governments as regional implementation plans are developed over the next two years. 

Cook said her concern about implementation comes from the lack of action on previous government reports like Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry or the national inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. 

"It's easy to diagnose the problem, but it's hard to actually fix it," said Cook.