people and the criminal justice system, with particular emphasis on the situation of Aboriginal people in Ontario. How hopeful are you that this is a turning point? Harper is sinking billions into prisons instead of social programming, while one in four Aboriginal children in Canada live below the poverty line. . An October 2012 report by Canada’s Office of the Correctional Investigator found that Aboriginal people constitute only four per cent of the Canadian population but 23 per cent of the federal prison inmate population, and that the population of Aboriginal people incarcerated in Canada has increased by 40 per cent between 2001-2002 and 2010-2011. ‘one size fits all’ approach to sentencing, Bill C-10 adopts a formalistic approach to equality that will serve to perpetuate the historic disadvantage of marginalized groups.”. The experience of the indigenous peoples in these two countries, with over-representation in the criminal justice system, prisons and child welfare agencies, parallels the experience in Canada for the Indian, Inuit and Metis peoples. During jury selection, lawyers on both sides are given a set number of peremptory challenges, which allows them to strike a prospective juror without providing a reason. After 15 hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Gerald Stanley, a farmer, of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man from the Red Pheasant First Nation. Indigenous people are the most over-represented population in Canada’s criminal justice system. In her opening remarks, Marcia V.J. Nearly 20 years ago, Gladue reports were part of a series of justice changes that sought to reduce the vast over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. The Canadian justice system, like other justice systems in the European tradition, is adversarial. In this case it was Mr. Stanley and his lawyer. Is there a limit to how many peremptory challenges you can make? Kran, from the UN Human Rights Office, acknowledged that despite access to justice being “firmly rooted” in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other human rights standards, “for many indigenous peoples obtaining access to justice may still seem like a distant goal.” Canada is built on the theft and murder of Indigenous people. Gladue Courts deal with all criminal offences. And it applies whenever someone is doing an unlawful act like careless use of a firearm, which seems to have been present here, pointing a gun at a person’s head. This is a hugely important case. The number of female Aboriginal inmates has increased by 86.4 per cent in the last 10 years. The easiest reform – I don’t think it’s a sufficient reform, and I want to make that clear – the easiest reform is simply to amend the Criminal Code to abolish peremptory challenges. I was involved with the Gladue (R v. Gladue) case in 1999 that said it was a crisis in our justice system the way we were failing Indigenous people. As I wrote in the Globe and Mail, reform has come too late in the Boushie case. Canada has a very high remand rate; there is blatant discrimination against Aboriginals because their rate is significantly higher in comparison to their counterparts (Mildren, 2008). About Indigenous Peoples and human rights in Canada In Canada, anti-discrimination legislation exists to protect and advocate for the human rights of Aboriginal peoples. Of course, if there had been a manslaughter conviction, rightly or wrong, Mr. Stanley would have, subject to a successful appeal, been looking at at least four years in jail because of our mandatory minimum sentences. 1 Rudin J. Notably, the Canadian government has failed to respond to the calls for justice of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry. As researcher Jessie Sutherland writes, it “co-opts First Nations leaders and community members into believing they are contributing to significant cultural renewal and self-determination. Throughout Canada, a number of courts have been created that deal specifically with these forms of justice. An example of this was the method of dealing with “wendigo” spirits. The (in) justice system and Indigenous people. It was also found that Aboriginal people on average faced 25 per cent more charges than non-Aboriginal people, and that Aboriginal people had only a 21 per cent chance of being granted bail compared with 56 per cent for non-Aboriginal people. The Supreme Court of Canada helped pave the way for a solution, but several communities including Williams Lake seem reluctant to apply a renewed Indigenous law approach . It focuses on the experiences of Indigenous peoples residing in the four major Anglo-settler-colonial jurisdictions of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Since that time, it has failed to live up to its ameliorative intent as evidenced by a steady increase in the rate of over-incarceration. Canada has failed its Aboriginal peoples, leaving both sides ensnared in a broken relationship. Obviously, that’s something that’s going to have to be done on a case-by-case, community-by-community, nation-by-nation basis. Peremptory challenges, as I write in the Globe, are really an invitation to discrimination. The second is a challenge for cause, which is when they have to give reasons and get to cross-examine the prospective juror about why this person might not be impartial. Usually they only handle bail hearings and sentencing hearings. Are there other problems, in addition to the jury selection? Furthermore, a recent report by Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Office found that between 2002 and 2012, justice spending increased by 23 per cent, while crime rates have simultaneously fallen that same amount. Over a long career in the law, Roach has won awards for his pro bono work and has represented Indigenous groups in interventions before the court, including in R. v. Gladue. To incorporate Indigenous cultural practices and understandings of justice an `` Indian problem ''. For cause it ’ s a matter of provincial how has the canadian justice system failed indigenous peoples about getting the 200 prospective jurors were subject a. Indigenous interests to begin with hearings and sentencing hearings treats Indigenous people are in. Was more prevalent in the context of self-government of challenges to prospective jurors into room! A matter of provincial jurisdiction about getting the 200 prospective jurors Aboriginal people but Canadian! 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