Canadians know that the over-incarceration of Indigenous peoples is a national shame.
About 30 per cent of federal inmates are First Nations, Métis and Inuit, according to the most recent data available. A staggering half of all female federal inmates are Indigenous.
We are a country that loves reports. Canadian governments love to measure people and trends – and, too often, to use reports to stand in for action. But what is needed is a coalition of the willing that can put their minds to actually making change.
Enter Kory Wilson, the chair of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council. She has been down deep in the weeds of the institutional justice and correctional systems of B.C., hellbent on trying to figure out how to change things and finding others who want to join her. You could say teaching the virtues of Indigenous law in a colonial system is a family affair for Ms. Wilson: she is the sister of Canada’s first Indigenous attorney-general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, and the daughter of late Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chief Bill Wilson, who left an undeniable mark on Indigenous rights and the Canadian Constitution.
“Something has to be done to make a change,” she said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 14, Ms. Wilson was in Lheidli T’enneh territory, or Prince George, opening the Indigenous Diversion Centre. The first project of its kind in Canada, the IDC will work with the local RCMP to intervene to stop the cycle of incarceration by providing wrap-around care for a person who is either heading toward prison or is just being released and is at risk of reoffending.
The Prince George centre comes out of the BC First Nations Justice Strategy, which was developed by 204 B.C. First Nations and the province. “The premise of our justice strategy is diversion,” Ms. Wilson said.
That approach focuses on the reasons the offence occurred – addiction, trauma, poverty – in the hopes that people can break the cycle. That outcome would be better for everyone: potential offenders or reoffenders get a chance to lead healthier lives, and there are fewer victims of crime as a result.
Pre-charge diversion shifts Indigenous people away from being charged with an eligible offence like shoplifting, minor assault, break and enter and fraud, and toward a diversion-centre team that develops an individualized 90-day plan. If the person commits to the plan, their charges can be dropped. This does not mean that alleged offenders avoid accountability; conditions are strict, and if people don’t comply, they are sent to jail.
For Indigenous people leaving provincial and federal correctional centres, post-release diversion involves working collaboratively with supports in the Prince George community that can assist with getting a diploma, job training or social services. This cultural wraparound support is aimed at helping people reintegrate into the community during this vulnerable period so that they do not reoffend, and to foster a sense of belonging with the help of social workers, counsellors and elders.
“This is about meeting the individual where they are,” said Ms. Wilson. “Some may not have graduated high school, some may have addictions. ... This is a team approach [tailored] to what a person needs.” Some centre initiatives include long-term counselling, “Adulting 101” workshops, and land-based activities and ceremonies.
“This is about doing what we know works – actually acting on it,” Ms. Wilson said.
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Decades of studies and news headlines show Indigenous people suffer systemic racism in policing. We are either over-policed or under-policed, and are shot and killed by police at high rates.
In Canada’s current systems, change has to come from within and alongside willing partners. In Manitoba, the Restorative Justice Act allows certain offences to be handled outside traditional court processes, with a focus on the needs of victims, offenders and the community so as to bring about sustained healing. And Ms. Wilson makes clear that this centre, which could be replicated throughout Canada if it’s successful, wouldn’t happen if not for the support of local police.
Compare what is happening in those places to what happens in cities such as Thunder Bay, Ont., where Indigenous peoples have to disproportionately engage with the police and the justice system. All parties involved in the current system need to be at the table with local First Nations leaders and groups to change the status quo. That is just the reality: as a society, we’ve got to figure it out.
At the press conference announcing the diversion centre, Ms. Wilson said one of the Indigenous participants said that is the first time they have had members of the RCMP sit on either side of them in which “they didn’t get the shivers.”
Change can happen, one step at a time.