By: Saije Rusimovici, Staff Writer
Content warning: mentions of colonialism and suicidal behaviour.
It’s no secret that Indigenous people are vastly overrepresented in the criminal justice system as a result of colonialism — nearly one third of the Canadian prison population is made up of Indigenous individuals. The treatment of Indigenous people inside correctional institutions continues to be an issue. They are more likely to be sent to maximum security institutions and subject to dehumanizing segregation practices. As a result, incarcerated Indigenous people are more likely to engage in suicidal behaviour.
Healing lodges have been offered as an alternative treatment method to prison. These facilities were proposed by Indigenous people to provide inmates the opportunity to serve part of their sentences “in a culturally enriched environment on Indigenous land, with support from their Elders, families, and communities.” These institutions aim to provide resources for issues like substance use.
It may appear as though a solution has been found in healing lodges for decades of injustices against Indigenous people. But let’s put it into perspective — the Corrections and Conditional Release Act that grants for alternative sentencing for Indigenous people was enacted nearly 30 years ago, yet “most Indigenous inmates will remain in traditional prisons for the foreseeable future.”
Healing lodges were “designed as a way to decolonize the justice system” with Indigenous programming, spiritual circles and ceremonies.” However, Kim Beaudin, the vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and an advocate for prisoners, said the implementation of this concept has changed dramatically since their inception. Beaudin notes that more “non-Indigenous people” are involved in management and decision-making. These staff often lack knowledge or experience in healing methods.
Senator Kim Pate, a “prison reform advocate,” noted these lodges are “not driven by an Indigenous worldview, per se.” This is a huge problem. Colonial versions of healing lodges won’t address systemic injustice. Nearly half of these lodges are led by Corrections Canada, with the others “co-managed” by Indigenous communities. The lodges under Corrections Canada also receive significantly more funding. Decolonizing the process is an essential component to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. Using healing lodges isn’t truly decolonizing the criminal justice system if they’re not led by Indigenous Peoples. By structuring them with the Canadian justice system as a blueprint, they make no meaningful changes to a deeply systemic issue.
First Nations/Indigenous courts use restorative justice approaches for anyone who is found or pleads guilty, and identifies as Aboriginal or Indigenous. Restorative justice approaches are rooted in holding offenders accountable in a meaningful way through alternative sentences that may not involve prison, and working to heal and address the victims’ needs. These courts aim to create a healing plan in consultation with Elders and community members. They can also involve sentencing circles — which are typically available as an alternative for sentences with less than two years — and are “a community-based process” to collaborate on a sentence “everyone is satisfied with.” This usually includes “the accused, an Elder, judge, Crown, and lawyer. The circle might also include an Indigenous court worker, police or court officers, and members of the accused’s family, and the victim and their family.”
There are only a few of these courts across Canada, and plans to expand them may be a better solution than current colonial healing lodges.
The overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system is already a systemic issue, built upon intergenerational trauma, socioeconomic impacts of residential schools, and poverty. Racism also contributes to the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prison, due to bias and stereotypes. Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger said in a 2022 conference that Indigenous people were more likely to be “placed in maximum security and labelled as gang members.”
The 1999 Gladue case recognized that the impacts of colonialism are more likely to result in Indigenous people being sent to jail, and the Gladue principles were implemented to address these problems. However, Indigenous women are still incarcerated at a rate 15.4 times higher than non-Indigenous women as of 2020/2021. It’s clear we must do more work to implement alternative approaches: traditional incarceration only worsens systemic dynamics. This doesn’t just have an impact on the offender, but on their families and communities as a whole.
Beaudin also argues that the overrepresentation of innocent Indigenous people continues to perpetuate distrust in the government, which serves no justice to Indigenous people. The criminal justice system must change their approach to handling the complexities of Indigenous justice by properly implementing Gladue and restorative approaches in criminal cases. Only then will we see true changes to the Canadian justice system with respect to Indigenous justice.
