We ask that you follow these guidelines. Site Map, Tackling Inequality as Part of Canada’s Post-Pandemic Recovery, Addressing Vulnerabilities for a More Equitable Pandemic Response, Building a More Inclusive Innovation Economy After the Pandemic, The Insider’s View Behind the Scenes of Election Campaigns, Facing up to Canada’s Long-Term Care Policy Crisis, recent acquittal by a jury of Gerald Stanley, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice expressed their support for the Boushie family, in his 2015 mandate letter to the Minister of Justice, proportion of Indigenous people who make up Canada’s jail population, are being struck down one by one by courts across the country, Widening the Lens on Criminal Justice Reform.

And that will require not only political will and legislative amendments, but also funding. Change is not only possible, it is necessary and vital.

On the other hand, there is no funding for Gladue reports in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, provinces where one assumes the need is certainly as great as in Ontario. The Supreme Court in Gladue said judges had a role in over-representation and they should ensure that they had the information necessary to allow them to meaningfully address this provision of the code. The Herald firmly supports a trial of this program.

The Court consistently pointed out in these cases that the issues facing Indigenous people are based on the direct and systemic discrimination they face every day in the justice system. The recent acquittal by a jury of Gerald Stanley, a white farmer, in the shooting death of Colten Boushie, an Indigenous man from the Red Pheasant First Nation in Saskatchewan, has again raised issues about the way the criminal justice system deals with Indigenous people. In a memorandum released on Tuesday, the Administration for Children and Families at […], CNA Staff, Sep 30, 2020 / 05:43 pm (CNA).- A temporary injunction has halted the Madison School District from following gender identity guidance that critics said concealed from parents whether teachers and staff were affirming students in transgenderism. And there are more on the horizon, as the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls and the Public Inquiry Commission on Relations Between Indigenous Peoples and Certain Public Services in Québec will also be addressing issues of justice.

If we are serious about reconciliation, we have to recognize that the justice system has been a place of injustice for Indigenous people. For Indigenous people, the case was simply another milestone on the long and well-travelled road of injustice. This is also the reason that so many of the inquiries and commissions mentioned earlier were called by provinces, because provinces have a significant role to play in addressing these issues. “Yesterday we entrusted Australia to Mary Help of Christians patron of this land; on this National Sorry Day, we might pray in a very special way for our Indigenous peoples to whom a vast injustice has been done – about that there can be no doubt,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

Photo: A chant is performed during a rally in response to Gerald Stanley’s acquittal in the shooting death of Colton Boushie in Edmonton, Alberta, on February 10, 2018. In fact, many young Indigenous offenders would not even go to court if the council of Australian attorneys-general agrees to a proposal that has wide support to lift the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14. These numbers, and their seemingly inexorable upward trend, might suggest that the problem of over-representation is intractable, and that nothing can be done to reverse the trend.

St. Jerome “emerges as a model of uncompromising witness to the truth that employs the harshness of reproof in order […], Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 30, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).-   A federal court heard arguments on Tuesday in the case of Jack Denton, the Catholic student ousted from Florida State University’s student senate in June. Terms & Conditions | Section 718.2(e) is an example of legislation that has made a difference. Part one: Floyd shines light on systemic injustice against racialized, Indigenous people. The (in)justice system and Indigenous people, (This article has been translated into French.). Judges and lawyers are not always familiar with noncustodial options, particularly those offered by Indigenous organizations. These reports, prepared by writers working for Indigenous organizations, provide judges, lawyers and Crowns with information on the backgrounds of the offenders who are being sentenced and suggest alternatives to incarceration where possible. Abolishing peremptory challenges — when lawyers do not have to give any reason for refusing to allow a person to sit as juror — was a recommendation of both the Manitoba Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, which reported in 1991, and the First Nations Jury Review in Ontario in 2013. Indigenous leaders and legal experts in NSW are calling for a different approach for Indigenous defendants known as a Walama Court, where elders and local cultural norms play a greater role. For Indigenous people, the case was simply another milestone on the long and well-travelled road of injustice. Gladue reports are also available in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and British Columbia, and will soon be in Yukon. Studies have shown that Indigenous persons courts — or First Nations courts, or whatever name they choose to go by — make a real difference in how Indigenous people feel they are treated by the legal system. Hiring more Indigenous police officers is the obvious solution, but NSW Police has found that it is hard to retain them and many leave the force. The federal government provides very little support for the production of Gladue reports. | Souhaitez-vous réagir à cet article ? That is why prosecutions under the Criminal Code — a federal statute — are carried out by Crown attorneys appointed by the province, usually in provincial courts, where judges are also provincially appointed. Where Gladue reports are available, Crowns change their positions on sentencing, and jail is relied upon much less. Legislation it introduced in 2016 to eliminate mandatory victim fine surcharges that accompany a criminal conviction, which are impossible for homeless and poor people to pay, has not moved past first reading. These courts do not create a faith in the system as a whole but rather are seen by Indigenous people as a place where they will be listened to, where their concerns and those of their communities will be heard and where, perhaps, they might actually get a sense of justice being done. Justice is supposed to be blind, but local court data obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws suggests that the courts in fact treat Indigenous people more harshly. He is the author of Indigenous People and the Criminal Justice System: A Practitioner’s Handbook from Emond Publishing. Systemic injustice for Indigenous people must be addressed Initiatives such as Gladue reports and Indigenous persons courts make a real difference. NATIONAL Reconciliation Week goes to the heart of what God calls Australia to be, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said at the 8am livestreamed Mass from St Stephen’s Cathedral on May 26. And even if it does introduce such legislation, there is no guarantee that it will be passed. He died just before his 21st birthday after trying to take his life in Grafton prison. The development of courts with a particular emphasis on working with Indigenous offenders and accused persons is another way to address estrangement from the legal system. I have described some of them in this article. The concerns the case raised focused not only on the verdict by the all-white jury but also on how the jury was selected, in particular the fact that the defence was able to rely on the use of peremptory challenges to prevent any Indigenous people from serving on the jury. Be part of the Policy Options discussion, and send in your own submission. On page 22 in the “Guide for Lawyers Working with Indigenous Peoples” a joint project of The Advocates’ Society, the Indigenous Bar Association and the Law […]

“Our hope is to unite Catholic people from across the country in a moment of prayer for […], Vatican City, Sep 30, 2020 / 02:18 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis Wednesday highlighted the life and figure of St. Jerome in an apostolic letter for the 1,600th anniversary of the Doctor of the Church’s death. For the most part, sentencing in Canada is done very quickly, and no one in the court is provided with much information about the offender. Gladue reports provide that information as well and thus offer real options for sentencing. Do you have something to say about the article you just read? This must not just be another empty promise.

There are no such courts in Quebec or Manitoba, one in Saskatchewan (a Cree-speaking circuit court) and two in Alberta. Indigenous-specific courts have less need for resources but still require funding to allow for Elders or Indigenous knowledge helpers to participate in the courts. There are also many examples of creative responses that have led to a positive engagement of Indigenous people with the current justice system.

The work of the Gladue writers is supported by Gladue caseworkers or aftercare workers, who work with offenders after they are sentenced. These commissions and inquiries have all come to the same conclusion: that the criminal justice system in Canada is failing Indigenous people.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.

Legislative amendments are important, but they are not enough. Since the late 1990s, the proportion of Indigenous people who make up Canada’s jail population has increased from slightly more than 10 percent to over 25 percent.