Current Problems: Justice (25-42)
Exploring Theme: "Legislative and Institutional Issues"
Updates on this page: 74
(Filtered by Indigenous Group "First Nations")
December 4, 2024
Saskatoon family wants new law for babies that die when mothers killed
Melissa Bear was pregnant with her sixth child when she was stabbed to death by her boyfriend in 2023. APTN News: The family of Melissa Bear is calling for a law to be enacted that accounts for unborn babies who die when their mothers are killed or murdered. Melissa Bear was eight months pregnant when...
November 22, 2024
Deadly week in Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba
Raven Crate was found dead in a home in Norway House on Nov. 12. Photo: Facebook. APTN News: The community of Norway House Cree Nation is in mourning after the death of two young people in the community. Brian Rowden, a member of the Nation told APTN News that the RCMP has failed the community....
November 12, 2024
The N.W.T. justice system doesn’t use Gladue reports. Some say that should change
By Jenna Dulewich First Peoples Law Report: CBC News: EyesontheArctic- As people across the country mourn the Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, some in the Northwest Territories justice system are reflecting on his contributions to the country — one of those being Gladue principles. Established in 1996, Gladue principles are a legal requirement for courts to consider...
October 29, 2024
Correctional Investigator’s Latest Annual Report Issues Groundbreaking Investigations into the Experiences of Maximum-Security and Life-Sentenced Prisoners in Canada
NationTalk: Ottawa – The 2023-24 Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) was tabled in Parliament on October 29, 2024. The Office’s latest Annual Report breaks new ground in two national-level investigations examining conditions of confinement in male stand-alone maximum-security penitentiaries and on the experience of persons serving a life (or indeterminate)...
October 29, 2024
Red Rock Indian Band holds peaceful protest
By Rick Garrick NationTalk: Anishinabeknews.ca R- ED ROCK INDIAN BAND – Red Rock Indian Band held a peaceful protest on Oct. 21 at the Nipigon River Bridge and Highways 11 and 17 intersection over their hindered search for Indigenous Ancestors that were uncovered at a Parks Canada construction site in May and displaced throughout Nipigon. Carbon dating...
October 24, 2024
Woodhouse, Anderson appear before Senate justice committee
The committee is reviewing Bill C-40, an amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code to create a new Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission Act. Clarence Woodhouse waits for a Senate justice committee hearing to start in Ottawa. The committee is examining Bill C40 that will amend the Criminal Code and set up a miscarriage of justice commission....
October 17, 2024
How a resolution at the B.C. Law Society became a debate about residential school denialism
Proposed wording change attempted to ‘turn down the volume on [the] truth,’ one lawyer said CBC Indigenous: A recent request to change the wording in a mandatory Indigenous intercultural course for lawyers in British Columbia led to a debate over whether the changes amounted to residential school denialism. Victoria-based criminal defence lawyer Jim Heller submitted a resolution to...
October 16, 2024
Legislation to handle miscarriages of justice in Canada could be law by Christmas
David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law would create a commission to review possible wrongful convictions. ‘Canada needs a commission that can independently investigate miscarriages of justice,’ says Sen. Kim Pate. Photo: Mark Blackburn/APTN. APTN News: An amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code to create a new Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission Act has passed second reading in...
October 4, 2024
First Nations leader says Saskatchewan court workers sent home for orange shirts
APTN News: The Canadian Press – Indigenous leaders say two staff members at a Saskatchewan courthouse were told to go home and take off the orange shirts they wore for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Meadow Lake Tribal Council is demanding an investigation. Richard Derocher, a vice-chief with the council, says the...
October 3, 2024
Pinaymootang First Nation man acquitted 50 years after his murder conviction
APTN News: Clarence Woodhouse from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba is free after being acquitted of a murder he was convicted on 50 years ago. Woodhouse was found guilty in 1974 of fatally beating and stabbing a restaurant worker in downtown Winnipeg in 1973. “I’ll probably just relax; relax, play with my son,” he told...
October 3, 2024
Threat of federal election could sink wrongful conviction review board, says Innocence Canada
Bill C-40 was designed to speed up conviction review process. The wrongful conviction committee was a topic of conversation at the 10th anniversary gala of Innocence Canada. Photo: Kathleen Martens/APTN. APTN News: An organization that works to free innocent people from Canada’s prisons says hope is fading that an independent body to review possible wrongful...
September 30, 2024
Opinion | ‘Canada has fully invested in punishment’: How we can change a system that puts too many Indigenous people in jail
Toronto Star: Chyana Marie Sage is a Cree and Métis writer whose writing is a celebration of her culture. She’s passionate about amplifying underrepresented voices and served as the Director of the Incarcerated Writers Initiative at Columbia. Her memoir, SOFT AS BONES, is forthcoming May 2025. It’s been nine years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made 94 Calls...
September 27, 2024
Indigenous Bar Association Disheartened by Divisive Vote on LSBC Resolution 3; Reaffirms Need for Mandatory Legal Education on Indigenous Issues
NationTalk: The Indigenous Bar Association – The Indigenous Bar Association (IBA) is relieved by the defeat of Resolution 3 at the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC), but equally disheartened by how narrowly the motion was defeated. Resolution 3, which contained troubling elements of Residential School denialism, sought to revise the LSBC’s Indigenous Cultural Competency...
September 23, 2024
Indigenous Bar Association Condemns Resolution Promoting Residential School Denialism
NationTalk: Indigenous Bar Association – The Indigenous Bar Association in Canada (IBA) vehemently condemns a resolution that was tabled by members of the Law Society of British Columbia for consideration at its 2024 Annual General Meeting, the content of which invites skepticism surrounding the atrocities endured by Indigenous Peoples at the hands of the Residential...
September 9, 2024
Police watchdog investigating after Mi’kmaw man killed by RCMP at Elsipogtog First Nation
Elsipogtog First Nation calling for thorough investigation of incident CBC News: A Mi’kmaw man was shot and killed by police late Sunday night on the Elsipogtog First Nation, about 55 kilometres north of Moncton. A statement from the First Nation said the band sent its condolences to the man’s family and the entire community. It said immediate action...
September 5, 2024
Alberta MLAs call for province to start collecting race-based data
Samson Cree Nation is south of Edmonton. Photo: Chris Stewart/APTN. APTN News: Two Indigenous politicians in Alberta say the province needs to reconsider the collection of race-based data for people who interact with police. “We reiterate the need for a comprehensive approach to fixing the structural problems in policing in this province,” said Jodi Calahoo...
September 4, 2024
Winnipeg community pushes back after police kill woman in park
‘The police need to be held accountable for what they do,’ says marcher. APTN News: The night after a woman was struck and killed by a police cruiser in a park, more than 60 people gathered at an intersection in downtown Winnipeg to demand answers. “The police shouldn’t have done what they did because what...
August 16, 2024
Secwépemc inmate ends 4 week hunger strike in protest of unfair treatment, discrimination in prison
Norman LaRue says his family has suffered separation, abuse over three years at the Mission Institution. Norman LaRue with his wife Jenni and daughter. Photo: supplied. APTN News: An Indigenous inmate at the Mission Institution in British Columbia has ended a four-week hunger strike, a decision his family says he was forced to make following...
August 9, 2024
RCMP hired private spies to monitor Fairy Creek activists
RCMP officers block the road leading to the Fairy Creek encampment on the day arrests began, May 17, 2021. Photo by Jimmy Thomson / Canada’s National Observer Listen to article Canada’s National Observer: The RCMP’s controversial C-IRG unit hired a third-party intelligence company to spy on the online activities of Fairy Creek activists, newly available documents...
August 8, 2024
Inquest jury urges RCMP to review detention policies after Secwe̓pemc man died in custody
Province has already said it has ‘no plans’ for a sobering centre in Kamloops, one of several recommendations to make the system safer. Content warning: This story includes detailed description of a death in police custody. Please look after your spirit and read with care. APTN News: IndigiNews – Regina Basil always did everything she...
June 12, 2024
APTN triggers chief coroner to take command of death investigation
APTN reporter Kenneth Jackson operates the boat last used by two Mohawk fishermen when they drowned nine years ago. APTN tested the boat in various ways to challenge the police theory of how the men may have drowned. APTN News: An investigation by APTN has shed new light on the deaths of two Mohawk fishermen...
June 11, 2024
AMC Raises Concerns Over Appointment of Former WPS Detective to Head Manitoba’s Police Complaints Agency
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg – The Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) says the recent appointment of a former Winnipeg detective to head Manitoba’s police complaints agency is deeply concerning. Justice Minister Matt Wiebe announced the appointment of former Winnipeg police detective Harmen Wouda to lead the Law Enforcement Review Agency...
May 5, 2024
Ontario must recognize First Nations bylaws — failure to do so ‘will result in harm to our citizens’
Inquests and inquiries into the deaths of vulnerable First Nations people, including women and girls, repeatedly emphasized that recognizing First Nations jurisdiction is essential for keeping people safe. By Laurie Carr Contributor The Toronto Star: Lately, our neighbouring communities have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: overdoses, homelessness and crime. While we have been...
May 4, 2024
Wolastoqey chiefs demand police enforce banishment orders following woman’s homicide
RCMP says enforcement of banishment orders require assessment of complex legal issues CBC News: Wolastoqey chiefs in New Brunswick are demanding action from the provincial and federal governments that would result in police officers enforcing band-enacted bylaws banishing unwanted individuals from their communities. The six chiefs said in a letter that their earlier demands had “fallen...
April 26, 2024
Full parole meeting scheduled for B.C. man who defrauded Indigenous youth
Robert Riley Saunders parole request will go to full hearing. Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Facebook. APTN News: Robert Riley Saunders, who stole more than $460,000 from the British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Services by lying about his credentials and defrauding vulnerable Indigenous...
April 17, 2024
Nerissa Quewezance arrested by Saskatoon police
Nerissa and Odelia Quewezance are awaiting the results of a federal review of their 1993 murder convictions Nerissa Quewezance outside the Yorkton, Sask., courthouse in 2023. Photo: APTN file APTN News: A Saulteaux woman hoping to be found wrongfully convicted has been arrested for allegedly breaching her bail conditions. Nerissa Quewezance was arrested April 13...
April 12, 2024
‘Enough is enough:’ Court rulings stack up against band council
APTN News: This is how judges have described a three-member band council of a small First Nation in British Columbia over the last four years when it comes to its handling of band membership and finances. “Unfit” “Abusive” “Unlawful” “Vexatious” “Purposefully repugnant” “Motivated by their own self-interest” And it’s all squarely directed at sisters Chief...
April 12, 2024
Indigenous people still overrepresented in prison
Some mandatory minimum sentences repealed by Ottawa Toronto Star: When the Liberal government repealed some mandatory minimum prison sentences in 2022, it billed those changes, in part, as a response to the overrepresentation of marginalized communities — including Indigenous people — in Canadian prisons. However, experts say that hasn’t done anything to reduce the number...
April 2, 2024
She says this alternative to prison saved her life. So why isn’t Canada investing in more of them?
Healing lodges were proposed to Ottawa as an alternative to federal institutions. But supporters said the federal government has not done enough to support them. The Toronto Star: OTTAWA—Tania Ross spent 20 years in federal prisons, jailed at 19 when she received a life sentence for second-degree murder. Ross entered the maximum-security Saskatchewan Federal Penitentiary...
March 8, 2024
Protesters say they’re fed up with NDP government inaction after promise to search landfill for slain women
Daughter of Morgan Harris ‘sick of words with no action;’ AMC grand chief done ‘begging’ CBC Indigenous: Protesters demanding a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of three First Nations women directed their anger at a new target Friday — Premier Wab Kinew, who has yet to deliver on his campaign promise. Chants of “Bring...
March 6, 2024
Frustrations raised concerning province’s plan for bail system
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs express their frustration with the provinces new five-point community safety plan, meant to bolster Manitoba’s bail system and crack down on repeat offenders. Mitchell Ringos reports. First People’s Law Report: City News – An ex-gang member who now teaches youth to stay out of jail is speaking out against the...
February 14, 2024
Manitoba child advocate calls for more supports after family killed
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – Manitoba’s advocate for children and youth is calling on the provincial government to better support young people facing intimate partner violence after a man was charged with killing five family members, including his three young children. Sherry Gott offered her condolences to relatives, friends and the southern Manitoba...
February 6, 2024
Saskatchewan MLA says more support needed for Indigenous women leaving incarceration
APTN News: The opposition critic for First Nations and Métis Relations in Saskatchewan says the province has to do a better job at helping Indigenous women leaving jail. “There needs to be support for healing because many of our Indigenous women, many people have trauma in their lives,” says Betty Nippi-Albright, the MLA for Saskatoon...
January 31, 2024
Frank Gruben: The RCMP response and the need for missing-persons legislation
N.W.T. RCMP say they have ‘exhausted’ investigative leads – but new legislation may empower them to gather more evidence. Fort Smith RCMP Sgt. Cagri Yilmaz agreed to take APTN Investigates Karli Zschogner on a ride-along. Photo: Karli Zschogner/APTN. This is part three of a four-part series by APTN Investigates looking into the disappearance of Frank...
January 25, 2024
Time to end ‘inhumane’ delays in search for women’s remains, Manitoba chiefs say as new report completed
‘I speak with urgency and expect action from the governments’: AMC Grand Chief Cathy Merrick WARNING: This story contains distressing details. Click on the following links to read the original article on CBC including all related videos: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/amc-landfill-search-prairie-green-1.7094507?cmp=newsletter_Evening%20Headlines%20from%20CBC%20News_1617_1371030 CBC News: First Nations leaders say the year-long wait for a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for...
January 25, 2024
Repurpose youth justice resources to better support young people, Rep says
NationTalk: VICTORIA – A dramatic drop in the number of youth committing crimes and being sentenced to custody over the last 20 years has resulted in a gross under-utilization of scarce resources at the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), according to a new report released today by Representative for Children and Youth (RCY)...
January 25, 2024
RCMP collecting race-based data is a ‘double-edged sword,’ says Indigenous leader
“If you are coming from a police lens or perhaps a white-based lens, that’s going to influence how the data is framed.’ —Dr. Kanika Samuels-Wortley, associate professor in criminology from Ontario Tech University From left to right: Dr. Mai Phan, acting director of the RCMP anti-racism unit, Fort McKay Métis Nation President Ron Quintal, and...
November 2, 2023
Correctional Investigator Releases Updated Findings on the State of Indigenous Corrections in Canada: National Indigenous Organizations Issue Statements of Support
NationTalk: OTTAWA, ON – On November 1, 2023, the 50th Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was tabled in Parliament. The report includes the second of a two-part update of the Office’s original 2013 Special Report to Parliament titled, Spirit Matters: Aboriginal People and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. A decade after the...
November 2, 2023
‘A national travesty:’ Prison watchdog urges reform to tackle Indigenous over-incarceration
Correctional investigator calls for transfer of power back to Indigenous people as special probe concludes CBC Indigenous: Canada’s prison watchdog is denouncing the over-representation of Indigenous people in federal prisons as a travesty while urging significant reform, as he releases the second part of a two-year investigation. In the conclusion of his Ten Years Since Spirit Matters report, Correctional Investigator...
November 1, 2023
Office of the Correctional Investigator Annual Report 2022-2023: Recommendations
ANNEX A: Summary of Recommendations Click on the following link to read the full report: https://oci-bec.gc.ca/en/content/office-correctional-investigator-annual-report-2022-2023#s9...
October 25, 2023
How Harper’s former ‘tough on crime’ adviser flipped to completely opposing prisons
Some decriminalization measures have clearly backfired. But Benjamin Perrin offers plenty of examples of alternatives to the status quo that are worth exploring NationTalk: Vancouver Sun: In the now world-famous viral video, Pierre Poilievre needled a hapless journalist by asking for examples of his supposed “populist” approach, all the while casually munching on an apple. The...
September 28, 2023
First Nations lawyer says new bail legislation unfairly targets Indigenous women
APTN News: First Nations lawyer Christa Big Canoe says Canada’s new bail reform legislation will result in more Indigenous women behind bars. “That there is potential harm, particularly to Indigenous women as it relates to prior charges of intimate partner violence,” Big Canoe of the Indigenous Bar Association told a Senate committee on Thursday. “Knowing...
July 5, 2023
Statement from Premier Heather Stefanson and Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke on the Final report of the Landfill Search feasibility Study Committee
On behalf of our government and all Manitobans, our deepest condolences continue to go out to the families and loved ones mourning the tragic loss of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois, and Buffalo Woman. Today, we met with a number of family members and Indigenous leadership. In that meeting, we stressed the Manitoba government...
July 5, 2023
Manitoba grand chief shocked after province says it won’t help pay to search landfill for remains
AMC’s Cathy Merrick says province’s concerns about searchers’ safety are addressed in feasibility report CBC News: The leader of the group pushing to search a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two First Nations women says she doesn’t buy the Manitoba government’s explanation that it won’t provide funding for the initiative because of safety concerns for those...
June 29, 2023
Leaked report on searching landfill for women’s remains shares how 60,000 tonnes of material could be examined
Proposal includes using temperature-controlled unit to secure possible remains found at Prairie Green landfill WARNING: This story contains distressing details. A search through as much as roughly 60,000 tonnes of materials for the remains of two First Nations women at a landfill near Winnipeg could involve moving thousands of truckloads of garbage, hiring dozens of...
June 26, 2023
Indigenous Justice and a New Path for Canada’s Prisons
A report offers a blueprint for fixing Indigenous overrepresentation in jails. The Tyee: When I asked Boyd Peters, a Sts’ailes First Nation member and BC First Nations Justice Council director, about the effects of long-term incarceration on Indigenous people, his brow furrowed. He exhaled and looked down before responding. “Nobody should have to go through...
May 30, 2023
Prison isolation units detrimental to the mental health of young Indigenous offenders: report
Young Indigenous prisoners placed in isolation units in prison are more likely to have mental health issues. APTN News: Young Indigenous prisoners who are placed in isolation units in prison are more likely to have mental health issues and be more adversely affected than non-Indigenous populations says a federal panel’s report. According to the report,...
May 24, 2023
B.C. researcher starts project to document Indigenous deaths in police custody
First Nations and advocates echo calls for more transparency into in-custody deaths CBC News: An independent researcher is calling for greater transparency around deaths in police custody in B.C., saying they disproportionately affect Indigenous people. Leonard Cler-Cunningham, a researcher who has documented the deaths of Indigenous people in custody for decades and co-authored research into violence against sex workers in Vancouver,...
May 16, 2023
‘Why did my daughter die?’ Mi’kmaw mother demands inquiry into Nova Scotia jail
APTN News: A Mi’kmaw mother in Eskasoni is demanding answers about why her daughter died in a Nova Scotia jail. Sarah Denny, 36, a mother of two, was serving a sentence for violating her house arrest. On March 26, she died at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, a jail for women in Dartmouth, NS,...
May 8, 2023
Incarcerated Indigenous women devastated after prison stops them from selling beadwork
Inmates earned money through Women Helping Women Beadwork to help support families on the outside CBC News: A woman who relies on selling beadwork she makes in her cell at a Manitoba women’s prison to support her family is devastated that she’s no longer allowed to do so. Lori Sinclair, who has been on remand at...
April 24, 2023
Women’s shelters across Canada are losing nearly $150 million in federal funding
Money was earmarked to help during pandemic but shelters say extra dollars have become ‘lifesaving’ CBC News: The more than 600 women’s shelters across Canada will soon lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding they say has kept them afloat during the pandemic and is still desperately needed. Since April 2020, Ottawa has provided $300...
April 19, 2023
Delegates from Canada highlight land rights, safety for Indigenous women and girls at UN forum
‘We deserve to be valued,’ says FSIN vice-chief Aly Bear CBC News: Indigenous delegates from Canada did not mince words addressing the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York this week. The theme of the 22nd session of the forum, which runs until April 28, is “Indigenous Peoples, human health, planetary and...
April 5, 2023
Opposition calling on N.L. to remove statute of limitations for physical abuse victims
Justice minister makes reference to reviewing law, but won’t comment on specifics CBC News: Justice critic Helen Conway Ottenheimer is calling on Justice Minister John Hogan to make changes to the Limitations Act, which would remove the statutes of limitation on physical abuse. The Progressive Conservative member told CBC News she had a meeting with...
March 16, 2023
RCMP won’t agree to respect Gitxsan chiefs’ ban on ‘militarized’ response group
C-IRG is ‘uniquely situated’ to operate in area if required by court order, spokesperson says CBC News: The RCMP says it will not commit to respecting a Gitxsan hereditary chiefs’ decision banning the Mounties’ Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) from unceded lands in northwest B.C. The chiefs ordered the C-IRG not to trespass or be deployed across 35,000 square kilometres...
February 20, 2023
Canadian registry of wrongful convictions shines light on cases the headlines miss
The registry shows a significant number of cases were due to false guilty pleas and “imagined” crimes or “dirty thinking,” such as the victims of disgraced coroner Dr. Charles Smith. Also, the number of Indigenous people wrongfully convicted represent roughly one in five of the documented cases. The Toronto Star: A first-ever comprehensive Canadian registry...
February 17, 2023
Ex-national chief who helped create Assembly of First Nations says organization now ‘in limbo’
Del Riley enshrined Indigenous rights in Constitution while rallying chiefs under a new banner CBC News: The Assembly of First Nations has lost its way and is now “in limbo,” having over its 40-year history slowly come under the influence of the Liberal Party of Canada, says the former national chief who created it. Del Riley...
February 9, 2023
PHSA did not consistently provide access to mental health, substance use services for Indigenous people in B.C. correctional centres
NationTalk: VICTORIA –Indigenous men and women needing mental health and substance use services while in B.C. correctional centres were not consistently provided access to supports from the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), according to an audit by the Office of the Auditor General. The PHSA – responsible for health care in corrections since 2017 –...
February 4, 2023
Digging for answers
The families of an alleged serial killer’s victims want this landfill searched. But how, and by whom? The Globe asked forensics experts, who saw hope that the right techniques could unearth buried remains The Globe and Mail: For months after police determined Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran were likely buried at the Prairie Green Landfill,...
February 1, 2023
Healing lodges, designed for Indigenous inmates, are failing the people they’re meant to rehabilitate, say prison reform advocates
NationTalk: National Observer – Have healing lodges lost their way as a medicine to Indigenous over-incarceration? It’s a question the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), which represents urban and non-status Indigenous Peoples, is asking after the tragic death of Cassandra Fox, a 27-year-old inmate who died by suicide last Wednesday at the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Saskatchewan. “The Congress...
January 17, 2023
Minister won’t say if Indian boarding homes settlement will include apology to survivors
Federal government ‘to keep an open mind’ on saying sorry, Marc Miller says CBC News: The federal minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations won’t say if a proposed class-action settlement with survivors of Canada’s boarding home program for Indigenous students will include an apology — something the case’s lead plaintiff spent more than a decade advocating for....
December 6, 2022
Tŝilhqot’in Question Amendments to Bill C21
NationTalk: Williams Lake, B.C.: The Tŝilhqot’in National Government is questioning the recent amendments to Bill C21, which will now include hunting rifles and semi-automatic shotguns. Hunting rifles are necessary tools for hunting and exercising the Indigenous right to hunt as affirmed by Section 35 of the Constitution. The TNG recognizes the need to address gun...
November 6, 2022
First Nations leaders question new Sask. marshals service amid calls for better policing
Some see benefits to the move, while others decry a lack of consultation CBC News: As Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan call on governments for local policing forces and resources to address safety concerns, some First Nations community organizations are raising questions about the province’s newly announced marshals service. This week, the provincial government announced the planned Saskatchewan Marshals Service —...
November 1, 2022
Federal prison watchdog sounds alarm over treatment of Indigenous inmates
Globe and Mail: Efforts to improve conditions for Indigenous inmates have stagnated over the past decade, the federal prisons watchdog says, perpetuating the disadvantages of a group that is vastly overrepresented in the prisoner population. Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger found that facilities established specifically to meet the needs of Indigenous prisoners, called healing lodges, are...
October 21, 2022
Healing lodges help reduce Indigenous overincarceration. Why has Canada allowed them to wither?
Indigenous-run healing lodges are a successful model for rehabilitation, but they are underfunded and underused across the country Globe and Mail: Conrad Johnson entered prison a teenager, and figured he’d leave a dead man. In 1995, he committed one of Winnipeg’s most shocking gang crimes, shooting 13-year-old Joseph Spence in the back with a sawed-off...
June 3, 2022
First Nations Leadership Council troubled by lack of progress on implementing the MMIWG Calls to Justice
NationTalk: (Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) – On the third anniversary of the release of the National Inquiry’s Final Report and Calls for Justice, the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is deeply troubled by the lack of progress to implement the Calls for Justice. Despite the finding of genocide made by the...
March 5, 2021
“The Petty Trespasses Act”
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – AMC states that “Bill 63 The Petty Trespasses Amendment and Occupiers Liability Amendment Act (Petty Trespasses Act)” introduced for first reading in the Manitoba legislature “attempts to legislate its way into First Nations’ areas of autonomy and jurisdiction. “The AMC cannot allow provincial laws to violate Treaty rights. First Nations...
February 18, 2021
Bill C-22 : An Act to amend the Criminal Code….”
Toronto Star – Bill C-22 “An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act” although a step in the right direction does not go far enough, critics say. The fact that the bill does not remove mandatory minimums for more crimes and does not repeal simple drug possession from the...
November 12, 2020
Federal, Provincial, Territory Ministers responsible for human rights
NationTalk – 24 civil society groups attending the third ever meeting of Federal, Provincial, Territory Ministers responsible for human rights “condemned the obstructive attitude of some governments” in advancing international human rights obligations. Groups had pressed governments to commit to nation-wide law reform that will legally require governments to adopt a collaborative, accountable, consistent, transparent,...
June 11, 2020
Bill 1 – Critical Infrastruture Defence Act
HuffPost – “Bill 1 – The The Critical Infrastructure Defence Act” bans protests at critical infrastructure such as “pipelines, oilsands sites, mining sites as well as utilities, streets, highways, railways, and telecom towers and equipment. Violators who protest, trespass, interfere with operations, or cause damage around that kind of infrastructure will face fines as high...
June 3, 2019
Cutting Legal Aid Funding
Ottawa Citizen – Cuts to Legal Aid Ontario are “mean-spirited” and will push the province closer to a two-tiered legal system, where Indigenous people, the poor and refugees will be at an even greater disadvantage, Ottawa lawyers warn....
April 12, 2019
Cutting Legal Aid Funding by 30%
The provincial government is cutting funding to Legal Aid Ontario by 30% that negatively impacts the Indigenous population who are one of the most disadvantaged and impoverished in Ontario and one of the most over-represented in the criminal justice system....
April 12, 2019
Bill S-215 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)
Native Women’s Association of Canada – As a supporter of this bill, Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) hoped it would be an important step forward with respect to the urgent issues Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people face today such as heightened likelihood of disappearance, human trafficking, violent crimes, and forced and coerced...
April 10, 2019
Bill S-215 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)
Defeat of “Bill S-215, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)” in the House of Commons during the second reading on April 10, 2019. The Bill would have required a court to take Indigenous female identity into account during the sentencing of offenders. Those “in favour” of Bill...
December 4, 2018
Bill S-215 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Sentencing for Violent Offences Against Aboriginal Women)
Toronto Star – When there’s a large-scale industrial development, when there’s construction camps that are co-located, we have documented increases in the rates of sexual assault, the rates of sexualized violence, the rates of prostitution, the rates of sexually transmitted infections,” said Ginger Gibson, director of the Firelight Group, which does research in Indigenous and...
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