Statement made on 13 May 2008 by Senator Robert Peterson
Hon. Robert W. Peterson:
First Nations people aredisproportionately over-represented in the Canadian prison population, be it atfederal or provincial facilities. AlthoughFirst Nations only make up 4 percent of Canada’s population, they represent18 percent of admissions to federal prison facilities. In Saskatchewan, this reality is even moretroublesome when we consider that the Aboriginal prison population atprovincial facilities reached 80 percent in 2004.
As the Liberal Critic forAboriginal Affairs, Anita Neville, noted in a letter to the Ministerresponsible for the Parole Board, the Honourable Stockwell Day, the 2007 reportfrom the Office of the Correctional Investigator highlighted numerous concernspertaining to First Nations incarceration and parole granting. Amongst the mostunsettling findings were the unfair sentencing practices faced by Aboriginals,their higher rate of revocations for breach of Parole, and the consistent overclassification of that group on the part of Corrections Services.
As disconcerting as thosefindings are, the Investigator’s assessment that the proportion of full paroleapplications resulting in reviews by the National Parole Board is noticeablylower for Aboriginal offenders than it is for any other group in the Country isalso troubling. The devastating socialproblems that lead to disproportionately higher First Nations crime are knownand must be dealt with in appropriate ways. However, we mustn’t allow theseproblems to be made worse by institutions that don’t function properly andaggravate an already complicated social dynamic.
Like my colleague in the otherplace, I am calling on the National Parole Board to review its practices toensure that First Nations people are treated fairly and in a culturallysensitive manner. Moreover, I call on the Board to ensure that efforts are madeto ensure appropriate First Nations representation on the National Parole Boardand amongst its staff and professional advisors.