Statement made on 17 November 2011 by Senator Nick Sibbeston
Hon. Nick G. Sibbeston:
Honourable senators, yesterday I made a statement about the omnibus crime bill and how the bill may affect the Northwest Territories, where approximately 88 per cent of the present jail population is native people. I suspect that the situation is much the same in Nunavut and perhaps to a lesser extent in the Yukon.
The Minister of Justice in the Northwest Territories has recently expressed concern about the likely effect of the bill with regard to costs and overcrowding. There will be more people in jail for longer periods under the new crime bill.
In the North most people in jail are there not because they are criminals in the southern sense. Most of them are in jail because of social problems. It must be recognized that the Aboriginal people in the North come from a different, more ancestral way of life.
Over the last 50 years, they have come from a very historical life on the land to live in the towns and larger centres in the North. It is very socially difficult and disruptive for people going through this change. Because of this, many native people end up in jail not because, as I said, they are criminals, but because of social problems.
Has the government, in drafting its crime bill, taken the people, such as the Aboriginal people in the North, into consideration, recognizing that the bill will likely affect them in a very adverse and harsh way?
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