14.1-million investment over four years to implement measures to support justice in Aboriginal and urban communities.

1. The first measure will fund urban community justice programs, mainly through Aboriginal friendship centres. Such initiatives are essential to ensure community-based prevention, guidance, and community mediation services, but also to establish adaptability programs such as the alternative measures program.
2. The second measure is supporting the rollout of new justice committees in the Aboriginal communities and proposes increased budgets for the existing committees and an increase in the number of committees. The committees comprise groups of residents supported by local bodies wishing to get involved in the realm of justice. The groups also wish to establish better social control in their communities and in culturally relevant conflict-resolution processes in the community, in collaboration with the judicial process.
3. The third measure will contribute to enhancing services pertaining to the drafting of Gladue reports for Aboriginal offenders. The measure includes the hiring of Gladue writers in certain aboriginal organizations responsible but also the establishment of a procedure governing the use of Gladue letters at the provisional release investigation stage or when a sentence of less than 90 days is conceivable.

“Numerous fact-finding commissions are unequivocal: significant flaws persist today that prevent the First Nations and the Inuit from fully trusting the justice system. This investment will support the work of the Aboriginal friendship centres to bolster the power to act of the Aboriginal peoples while fostering access to guidance and intervention services in the realm of justice. Philippe Tsaronséré Meilleur, President, Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec