A CALL TO ACTION: RECONCILIATION WITH INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN THE FEDERAL JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS Report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women Karen Vecchio, Chair JUNE 2018 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN CHAIR Karen Vecchio VICE-CHAIRS Pam Damoff Sheila Malcolmson MEMBERS Terry Duguid* Stephanie Kusie Sean Fraser Emmanuella Lambropoulos Rachael Harder Eva Nassif Bernadette Jordan Marc Serré OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Kelly Block Irene Mathyssen John Brassard Hon. John McKay Sukh Dhaliwal Glen Motz Francis Drouin Brigitte Sansoucy Jenny Kwan Deborah Schulte Karen Ludwig Martin Shields James Maloney Robert Sopuck * Non-voting member, pursuant to Standing Order 104(5). iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Kenza Gamassi LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Laura Munn-Rivard, Analyst Dominique Montpetit, Analyst Clare Annett, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN has the honour to present its THIRTEENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied Indigenous women in the federal justice and correctional systems and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 23 Overview of Indigenous Women in the Federal Justice and Correctional Systems ... 26 National and International Commitments to Indigenous Peoples ............................ 29 Preventing Indigenous Women’s Criminalization and Incarceration ...................... 33 A. Addressing the Contributing Factors to Criminalization ................................ 34 1. Intergenerational Trauma ................................................................................... 35 2. Physical, Psychological and Sexual Violence ................................................ 37 3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems and Illnesses ................ 40 4. Poverty ........................................................................................................................ 42 5. Disconnection from Culture and Language ................................................... 43 B. Resolving the Foster Care Crisis for Indigenous Children .............................. 44 C. Collaborating with Indigenous Communities and Using Community Safety Planning ................................................................................................................ 48 D. Implementing Crime Prevention Strategies ........................................................ 49 E. Developing Social Impact Bonds and Other Innovative Approaches ......... 51 Indigenous Women’s Access to and Treatment in the Justice System ..................... 52 A. Indigenous Women and Police Forces ................................................................... 54 1. The Relationship Between Indigenous Peoples and Police Forces ..... 55 vii B. Indigenous Women’s Access to the Justice System ........................................... 57 1. Access to Legal Aid ................................................................................................. 58 2. Access to Culturally Appropriate Services .................................................... 59 3. Training within the Justice System .................................................................. 61 C. Judges and Sentencing .................................................................................................. 63 1. Mandatory Minimum Sentences........................................................................ 63 2. Gladue Reports ......................................................................................................... 67 a. Availability, Consideration and Misuse of Gladue Reports .............. 67 b. Lack of Gladue Writers ................................................................................... 70 c. Lack of Funding for Gladue Reports ......................................................... 71 3. Guilty Pleas ................................................................................................................ 72 D. Alternative and Restorative Justice ......................................................................... 73 1. Community Courts .................................................................................................. 75 Indigenous Women in the Federal Correctional System ............................................... 76 A. The Role of Correctional Service Canada .............................................................. 77 1. Oversight of Correctional Service Canada ..................................................... 79 a. The Office of the Correctional Investigator ............................................ 79 b. The Office of the Auditor General .............................................................. 81 B. Security Level Classification of Indigenous Women ......................................... 82 1. Reasons for Indigenous Women’s Over-representation at the Maximum-Security Level ..................................................................................... 84 2. Conditions and Outcomes of Maximum-Security Classification for Indigenous Women ................................................................................................ 87 C. Segregation and Solitary Confinement .................................................................. 89 D. Access to Programming ............................................................................................... 94 1. Culturally Sensitive Programming ................................................................... 96 a. Benefits of Culturally Sensitive Programming.................................... 100 viii b. Challenges in Implementing Culturally Sensitive Programming ..... 101 c. Participation of Indigenous Elders or Spiritual Advisors ............... 104 d. Healing Lodges ................................................................................................ 107 E. Section 81 and Section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act ....................................................................................................................... 113 1. The Application of Sections 81 and 84 by Correctional Service Canada ....................................................................................................................... 113 2. Section 81 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act .................... 115 3. Section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional