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For Immediate Release
Report Finds Evidence of Systemic Discrimination Against
Aboriginal Inmates in Canada’s Prisons
Ombudsman critical of Correctional Service’s treatment
of
native inmate population
OTTAWA, October 16, 2006 – According to the Annual Report
of the Correctional Investigator, the Government of Canada’s
Corrections Ombudsman, the federal prison system has practices
that discriminate against Aboriginal offenders. The Correctional
Investigator found that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)
routinely classifies First Nations, Métis and Inuit inmates as
higher security risks than non-native inmates; Aboriginal
offenders are released later in their sentences than other
inmates; and they are more likely to have their conditional
release revoked for technical reasons than other offenders.
According to the Report, Aboriginal inmates often do not receive
timely access to rehabilitative programming and services that
would help them return to their communities.
“The overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in Canada’s prisons
is well documented. However, these disparities between
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders are not as well known
and should be addressed on an urgent basis,” said the
Correctional Investigator, Howard Sapers. “The higher rate of
recidivism for Aboriginal offenders is in part due to the
Correctional Service’s failure to manage Aboriginal inmates in a
culturally responsive and non-discriminatory manner,” he added.
Sapers also noted that “the gap in outcomes between Aboriginal
and other offenders continues to grow, and more commitment and
resources are required to address the troubling trend.”
The Report found that the CSC initially classifies Aboriginal
offenders at higher security levels than other inmates,
identifies them as having lower reintegration potential and
places them in minimum-security institutions at less than half
the rate of non-Aboriginal offenders. Aboriginal inmates are
placed in segregation more often than non-Aboriginal offenders,
limiting their access to appropriate programming. These
discriminatory outcomes are even more pronounced in the case of
female Aboriginal offenders.
The Report calls on the CSC to make “significant and quantifiable”
progress to close the gap between Aboriginal and other offenders
in terms of timely and safe conditional release. This includes
ending the overclassification of Aboriginal offenders; providing
timely access to programming and services to increase the number
of Aboriginal inmates ready to appear before the Parole Board at
their earliest eligibility dates; and increasing reliance on
legislative provisions that allow for the direct involvement of
Aboriginal communities in supporting the timely conditional
release of inmates. The Report also recommends that the CSC
increase the representation of its Aboriginal workforce at
institutions where a majority of offenders are of Aboriginal
heritage.
While Aboriginal people make up only 2.7 percent of the Canadian
population, they account for 18.5 percent of the federal prison
population (Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2006).
According to Statistics Canada data, while the overall
incarceration rate for non-Aboriginal people is 117 per 100,000
adults, the overall incarceration rate for Aboriginal people in
Canada is estimated to be 1,024 per 100,000 — or almost 9 times
higher for Aboriginal persons.
In addition to addressing the treatment of Aboriginal inmates, the
Correctional Investigator’s Report highlights the Correctional
Service’s continuing challenge to:
- provide adequate services to federal offenders
with significant, identified mental health needs — the
proportion of whom has more than doubled over the past decade;
- demonstrate compliance with its legal
obligation to provide every inmate with essential health care
according to professionally accepted standards, and accredit all
institutional health care sites;
- implement a more humane and less restrictive
alternative to the long-term segregation of women inmates; and,
- convene timely investigations and follow-up
action regarding incidents of serious injury or death among
inmates.
The Report identifies three pillars for ensuring
the federal correctional system meets its objectives of safe and
humane custody and supervision of offenders, and for assisting in
the rehabilitation of offenders and their return to the community as
law-abiding citizens: the fostering of a strong culture of human
rights with the CSC; the need for correctional staff and senior
managers to be accountable in the administration of law and policy;
and the requirement to assist offenders to ensure their timely and
safe reintegration into the community. Public safety is enhanced
when the three pillars are incorporated into correctional
operations.
The Correctional Investigator is mandated by an Act of Parliament to
be an independent Ombudsman for federal offenders. This work
includes ensuring that systemic areas of concern are identified and
addressed. The complete Annual Report, as well as the Correctional
Service of Canada’s response to it, is on the Correctional
Investigator’s Web site at www.oci-bec.gc.ca.
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For further information:
Ivan Zinger, LL.B., Ph.D
Senior Policy Advisor and Legal Counsel
Office of the Correctional Investigator
Tel: 613-990-2690
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