Good afternoon.
[Witness speaks in Mi'kmaq]
I just said that my name is Teresa Edwards, I'm Mi'kmaq First Nation, and my traditional name is Young Fire Woman.
I want to acknowledge the Algonquin people on whose territory we're gathered and of whom I'm a guest today. I also want to thank the committee for the opportunity to present on the topic of improving indigenous women's experience with the federal justice and correctional systems.
Today I'm presenting as a board member on behalf of the Indigenous Bar Association. The IBA is a national not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1994, made up of lawyers, academics, and law students from across Canada. The objectives at the IBA are to advance issues and concerns that indigenous people have with the justice system and to be a national voice for indigenous peoples generally. The IBA has also been recognized by governments, courts, and tribunals in many instances. I hope that you'll take our recommendations into account today.
I also have to acknowledge that my other hat here is as legal counsel and executive director for the Legacy of Hope Foundation. It's a national indigenous organization aimed at educating Canadians about the ongoing impacts of residential schools upon survivors, their families, and their communities.
With the last school having closed in 1996, we as a society are faced with generations of indigenous peoples who have been subjected to racism within policy, within legislation, and within the justice and correctional systems. Survivors have experienced all forms of violence—physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse—and have often not been given proper education or life skills to thrive as adults or as parents. These experiences have significantly contributed to the many social and economic conditions that they are facing today, including the strong links to poverty and to conflict with the federal justice and correctional systems.
I brought a research report for the committee today. There are only copies in English. I do have copies in French and I'll be giving them to the committee as well; tomorrow I'll have someone from my office bring them over.
The LHF fulfills its mandate by providing curricula and educational resources to schools across Canada. We've secured curricula for the three territories, and now we're working on an agreement with the Government of Alberta and concurrently with the Government of Ontario to do the curriculum from K to 12 so that it will actually include the appropriate history of indigenous peoples in Canada, including that concerning residential schools, the sixties scoop, and ongoing child welfare.
The reason for this is that we will expose the links that exist with social ailments today and build a stronger empathy and acknowledgement, just as we honour veterans in teaching histories of wars or teaching the history of Auschwitz and other issues. We need to do the same for Canada's dark history.
We make use of art and a series of exhibitions to uncover historical wrongdoings to understand where society went wrong in its treatment of indigenous peoples.
I will go on to speak of the effects that are affecting women, that are connecting them to conflict with the justice system.
It still has to be said that there's another side of the story for Canadians and justice officials whereby racism has to be addressed.
We have incidents of contact with the police. From the first instance, if the person is non-indigenous or not a racialized person, they're often given five or 10 warnings. I know this from personal experience in 25 years as a lawyer, in travelling to more than 110 communities and working as a legal counsel at NWAC—the Native Women's Association of Canada—and the AFN. In story after story, I hear of children, a group of five, who are apprehended by police together. Non-indigenous children are brought home to their parents and given a slap on the hand; the others are brought to the station and immediately charged, and their career begins.
You have this whole link of survivors of residential school with children who are survivors of a residential school or else are second generation. They may have been in contact with the state, being removed from the home largely because of poverty. These kids then come into contact with the justice system, and so starts the cycle.
You have racism at every impact. I really want the committee to be conscious of that point, inasmuch as we have to look at all the impacts of residential schools on indigenous people. When we look at the solution, we need to address that context.
I love the anecdote of “Bob hit Mary”, which becomes “Mary is an abused woman”. We look at solutions for Mary the abused woman, and Bob is gone from the equation.
We need to look at the fact that there is racism within the justice system from all angles before we can address the solutions.
I really concur with the comments that were made before mine. I would just add that for several generations indigenous communities have had to struggle with the impacts of residential schools and the imposition of foreign systems, policies, and laws that have disrupted our nations and have contributed to the social and economic hardships I spoke about.
We've had human rights violations and continuous colonization of indigenous women, and their children have been affected the most by these violations. We've had dispossession of traditional lands, of traditional roles and responsibilities, of our participation in political and social decisions. All are contributing factors that harmed our families, cultures, traditions, and languages. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has consistently recognized that indigenous women in particular face these multiple forms of discrimination that I've spoken about.
In Canada, indigenous women are more likely to be involuntarily segregated and to endure longer segregations than non-indigenous women. They are prisoners who are younger than their non-indigenous counterparts, with an average age of 29, as compared with 32 for non-indigenous women. We know that they make up 5% of the female population in Canada, but 39% of the female prison population, and they make up 50% of federal segregation placements.
As well, I have heard people speak about the mother-daughter programs. In reality, I've seen on paper what they're supposed to look like and how their implementation is supposed to work, but I've also met with women who spoke of having a half hour a week to visit their newborn child.
There are so many instances that I could give you. I know you are all going to receive the report that I already submitted, so I'll go straight to my recommendations.