Posted on 23 October 2009
OTTAWA – “Aboriginal people have a right to be consulted on justice legislation affecting them. This hasn’t been done with this legislation, so I’m proposing they be excluded from Bill C-25,” said Inuk Senator Charlie Watt on Wednesday, while introducing an amendment that was subsequently defeated in the Senate. Senator Watt was reacting to the fact that although Aboriginal people represent one in five prisoners in the federal prison system, Parliament did not consult aboriginal organizations or the community during its deliberations on Bill C-25, the Conservative Government’s “truth-in sentencing” legislation.
“I am disheartened. We’ve been told the legislation will have a differential impact on Aboriginal people that it should be examined carefully and mitigated before it is passed. Parliament hasn’t done its job. This is a serious matter and it will have to be dealt with down the road,” said Watt.
Said Senator Watt, “First Nations, Métis and Inuit are vastly over represented in the prison system. They are easier to prosecute, easier to catch and easier to incarcerate. Generally, they are less able to advocate for themselves. They face literacy and cultural issues that contribute to their vulnerability and lengthy prison sentences.” He continued, “Bill C-25 simply keeps aboriginal people in jail longer where, for the most part, they do not have access to clinical assessments, addictions treatment and rehabilitation programming. We must question how this is making Canadian communities safer.”
During Senate Committee hearings on Bill C-25, the Office of the Correctional Investigator reported that access to programming for offenders was in a critical state. Currently the Correctional Service of Canada allocates only two per cent of its annual budget of $2.1 billion to programming. The committee was told more and more offenders are released later in their sentences, too often not receiving the necessary programs and treatment to increase their chance of success in the community. For Aboriginal people the problem of access is dire, although it is required by law, too often treatment is not being offered where they are serving their sentences.
Bill C-25 received passage by Parliament this week, and will receive Royal Assent shortly making it a law.