Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 22nd, 2007

[Deborah Richardson]

Yes, they are.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Are they receiving any support from this tribal council related to these projects that are...?

[Deborah Richardson]

Yes, they are. The tribal council provides technical services. There are engineers who work within the tribal council, and they are helping to coordinate the technical components of this project.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Okay.

In your presentation you mention a pilot project to move from diesel to electricity. Has there been any evaluation of the cost of putting this community on the grid?

[Deborah Richardson]

Yes. There are thick reports that have looked at recommendations and the costs going either way, and how much just going from grid is going to save that community versus the cost of diesel, especially with the current price of diesel and shipping it on the winter roads. Many of the first nations of northern Ontario are really challenged right now about getting diesel in, because of the failure of winter roads, so they're forced to air-freight it in, and the costs are just astronomical.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Do you have any estimate of what it would cost to have this community connected to the power grid?

[Deborah Richardson]

Yes. It's going to be $14 million--another $14 million.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Colin Mayes]

I'd like to ask something. Do these communities have what I call an official community plan? Have they sat down as a community and decided what their infrastructure will be and what the forecast about growth and economic opportunities is? That way they have a plan that they're working towards, and they can work it into a capital plan for meeting those plans they've put forward, the strategy for their community.

They do that in British Columbia, and it works very well because it's built from the community. It's not built by government; it's built from the community, and it says this is where we want to go with our community. Do they have anything like that in first nations communities in Ontario?

[Deborah Richardson]

Many communities do have excellent comprehensive community plans. Unfortunately, Pikangikum doesn't. We're really trying to support that community to develop that plan, but I agree with you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Colin Mayes]

I think that's an important aspect of developing a community.

Thank you very much for your attendance. We really do appreciate the update and the encouraging news that things are moving forward. We thank you for that and for all the work you're doing.

The committee will suspend for a few minutes and then reconvene.

[The Chair, Conservative, Colin Mayes]

As we continue with the second portion of our committee meeting, we have a briefing on the annual report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator of 2005-06.

Today we have as witnesses, from Correctional Service Canada, Don Demers, senior deputy commissioner; Diane Zilkowsky, acting director general, aboriginal initiatives; and Ross Toller, assistant commissioner, correctional operations and programs.

Welcome to the witnesses. I would ask that you give about a ten-minute presentation, and then we'll move on to questions.

Thank you for being here.

[Don Demers, Senior Deputy Commissioner, Correctional Service Canada]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I will begin my comments in French.

I'll finish them in English. Whether I can do it in under 10 minutes is a daunting proposition, but I will certainly do my best.

On behalf of Correctional Service Canada, I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to respond to the findings and recommendations related to aboriginal offenders contained in the Correctional Investigator's 2005-06 Annual Report.

Correctional Service Canada, CSC, has long acknowledged the issue of aboriginal over-representation in the federal correctional system, now at 17% of the total federal offender population compared to 2.7% of the Canadian adult population. Aboriginals currently represent 19% of incarcerated offenders and 14% of those on some form of supervised release in communities.

My focus today will be on CSC's response to this over-representation.

In doing so, I must acknowledge the contributions of national aboriginal organizations, aboriginal staff and elders and communities over the past 10 years as CSC has developed innovative new approaches that are making a difference for aboriginal offenders.

Let me begin with the 1996 report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Their report stated that the over-representation of Aboriginals in Canada's prisons was only one part of the problem—that it was, in fact, only the end point of a series of decisions by those with decision-making power in the criminal justice system.

The commission also cited over-representation as a key indicator of the government's failure to address long-standing systemic issues including socio-economic deprivation and marginalization in Canadian society. The impacts of these societal issues on individual offenders must be dealt with when they arrive in CSC.

An amendment to the Criminal Code introduced a requirement for judges to consider alternatives to incarceration in sentencing aboriginal offenders.

The Supreme Court of Canada clarified application of these provisions in their 1999 decision in R. v. Gladue, including:

In sentencing an aboriginal offender, the judge must consider: (A) The unique systemic or background factors which may have played a part in bringing the particular aboriginal offender before the courts; and (B) The types of sentencing procedures and sanctions which may be appropriate in the circumstances for the offender because of his or her particular aboriginal heritage or connection.

If there is no alternative to incarceration the length of the term must be carefully considered.

Generally, the Gladue decision appears to have had a positive impact. Since 2001-02, after more than 10 years of steady increases, the proportion of aboriginal offenders in the incarcerated population has remained relatively stable in the last five years.

Moreover, the profile of aboriginal offenders admitted from the courts reflects a “hardening” in this population. This suggests that alternative measures and diversion programs are being used for those with less serious offences.

Those sentenced to federal custody are those for whom no alternatives are considered appropriate—often given a myriad of long-standing social dysfunction issues for the individual.

Those who arrive on the doorstep of our institutions are now younger, with more extensive criminal histories, histories of violence that are often associated with substance abuse, histories of mental health problems, and more and more frequently with gang affiliations.

Within the criminal justice system, provincial and territorial governments have exclusive responsibility for the administration of sentences of less than two years, offenders sentenced to probation, as well as for young offenders. Adult offenders, sentenced to two or more years, are sent to a federal penitentiary.

The Correctional Service Canada mandate, contained in Part I of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act 1992, is:

—to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by carrying out sentences imposed by courts through the safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders, and assisting in the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens through the provision of programs in penitentiaries and in the community.

The legislation prescribes specific processes and procedures for correctional operations and requires that public safety be the paramount consideration in all decision-making throughout the sentence. The legislation also includes provisions to protect individual rights while providing internal redress mechanisms for offenders to address any decisions or actions that they feel are unfair. The correctional investigator plays a role in providing oversight to these processes.

Part II of the CCRA specifies eligibility dates and criteria for decision-making for various types of conditional release. All conditional release decisions are made by the National Parole Board, an independent decision-making body within the public safety portfolio.

While numbers change day to day, CSC currently manages approximately 21,100 offenders, including 12,700 offenders in 58 institutions across the country and 8,400 offenders serving the remainder of their sentences under the supervision of parole officers located in 71 communities across the country. Of the 3,514 aboriginal offenders under CSC jurisdiction as of the end of March 2006, 2,373 were incarcerated and 1,141 were under some form of conditional release in the community. First nations generally formed the majority of the federal aboriginal population at 68%, while Métis account for 28%, and Inuit comprise the remaining 4%. Overrepresentation in the prairie and Pacific regions, which hold the vast majority of aboriginal offenders, reflects the result of higher crime rates in the west and the north.

As the only federal organization responsible for the day-to-day care and custody of a segment of the aboriginal Canadian population, our challenge has been to find ways to bridge the divide between the legislative requirements of the CCRA and aboriginal methods of justice and reconciliation. CSC uses actuarial assessment tools across the full continuum of an offender's sentence. These tools have been subject to allegations that they are culturally inappropriate. However, in a Federal Court decision on January 12, 2007, in which an aboriginal offender alleged racial discrimination in the application of these tools, the court indicated that, in this matter, the assessment tools distinguish between inmates not on the basis of race, but largely on the basis of the inmate's past course of conduct. The court dismissed the offender's application.

Given their more extensive criminal histories and histories of violence, it's not surprising that aboriginal offenders are more frequently classified at higher security levels when they arrive at CSC. In 2005-06, for example, 70% of aboriginal offenders admitted to the Correctional Service of Canada from the courts were serving a sentence for a violent offence, compared to 54% of non-aboriginal offenders.

Once an initial risk and needs assessment is completed, the question becomes one of how to address those factors that place aboriginal offenders at higher risk to reoffend. Community-based research has demonstrated that reconnection with culture, family, and community were key factors in the safe reintegration of aboriginal offenders.

Representatives of national aboriginal organizations and aboriginal stakeholders engaged with CSC, beginning in fiscal year 2001, to address alternative approaches. The resulting aboriginal corrections continuum of care model, developed with the guidance of aboriginal offenders, was adopted by CSC in 2003. The model embodies research findings that culture, teachings, and ceremony—core aspects of aboriginal identity—appear to be critical to the healing process.

In April 2006, CSC issued policies integrating aboriginal considerations throughout case management processes. Cultural awareness training for non-aboriginal staff has been developed and is currently being evaluated. The first priority will be delivery to all CSC parole officers.

I simply want to list the major elements within the continuum of care model. To begin with, elders and aboriginal liaison officers are engaged in the intake assessment process. Elders—and there are 74 now working for the Correctional Service of Canada, in our institutions—become part of the case management team for those offenders who choose to follow a healing path. Pathways healing units have been established—including one at a female offender institution—to provide a culturally appropriate environment that will support offenders on a healing journey.

Seven new aboriginal-specific correctional programs, designed with aboriginal stakeholders for delivery by aboriginal staff, are in varying stages of implementation and evaluation. These programs target violence prevention and substance abuse, key areas that place aboriginal offenders at higher risk to reoffend.

Eight aboriginal healing lodges, seven minimum security facilities for men, and one multi-level facility for women operate under formal agreements with local aboriginal communities and organizations.

Finally, aboriginal community development officers are engaging increased numbers of aboriginal communities in release planning and preparation for the return of offenders to their communities.

CSC is proud of the progress that has been made in these new programs and approaches. For example, a preliminary evaluation, in 2005, of the high-intensity violence prevention program for men, called “In Search of Your Warrior”, demonstrated that a large proportion of participants were successful in the community on release. Significantly smaller proportions of the participants were readmitted for new violent offences—7%, versus 57% for a comparison group that did not participate in the program.

Most recently, the expert committee on the ten-year status report on women's corrections cited that the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge for women serves as a “benchmark to demonstrate the extent to which collaboration with key community Stakeholders can translate into concrete action”.

Results from these initiatives appear to be impacting on the representation of aboriginal offenders in the population under supervision, with a slight increase from 12% in fiscal year 2000 to 14% in the community in fiscal year 2005, and this notwithstanding the hardening of the offender population. During the same time, the rate for violent reoffending while under supervision has gone down, from 5.6% in fiscal year 2001 to 3.6% in fiscal year 2005.

The correctional investigator also recommended that CSC significantly improve the overall rate of its aboriginal workforce. In that regard, CSC is currently the second-largest federal employer of aboriginal people, at 6.7% of all CSC employees, compared to a labour market availability rate of 4.7%. Their representation is highest in the two occupational groups working directly with aboriginal offenders—9.3% of all correctional officers and 7.7% of parole and program delivery staff. We nonetheless acknowledge the need to enhance recruitment, development, and retention of aboriginal employees.

In closing, while data on the representation of aboriginal offenders provides us with important indicators of where we need to look for change in corrections, further research and evaluation will inform us on the effectiveness of individual initiatives. CSC still faces many significant challenges and needs to build on the learning of the last five years.

This is an ongoing journey. Our “Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Corrections”, which was released in October 2006, builds on that learning and articulates a vision for the next five years, to ensure a federal correctional system that is responsive to the needs of aboriginal offenders and contributes to safe and healthy communities. CSC will continue to partner with national, regional, and local aboriginal organizations and communities to develop solutions that respect aboriginal community priorities, needs, and capacities.

Thank you for your patience.

[The Chair, Conservative, Colin Mayes]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Russell, please.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and my thanks to the witnesses. I want to share my time with Ms. Karetak-Lindell.

Certainly there seem to be some positive developments. Whether they're yielding positive outcomes seems to be questionable.

I'm really struck by a couple of statements. In your presentation, Mr. Demers, you said that in 1996 the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People said that prisons were the end of a whole series of decisions, societal trends, societal pressures, or whatever you want to call them. The end result has been a lot of aboriginal people ending up in prison or being incarcerated.

Let's make the assumption that some of those forces have been discriminatory, with systemic discrimination and all kinds of barriers in this particular fashion. When I read the correctional investigator's report, it says:

...our Annual Reports have made specific recommendations focused on addressing the systemic and discriminatory barriers that prevent Aboriginal offenders from full benefit of their statutory and constitutional rights and that significantly limit their timely and safe reintegration into the community.

It would seem that there wasn't a cutoff at the prisons, that somehow discrimination was out there in that world and it wasn't happening within the prison system. It would seem to me that at least what the correctional investigator is saying is that this discrimination, this prejudice, is going on within the prison system itself. So you have this vicious circle. Why they end up there is prejudicial and discriminatory. While they're in there, it's prejudicial and discriminatory. They have slow release, but once they're back out, they reoffend and this type of thing.

How would you respond to that particular comment or that particular view of the correctional investigator?

[Don Demers]

Responding to the first part, to the beginning of your statement, you've made an important point in terms of the people who wind up in the federal system. They basically have come to us with a variety of problems that have basically been developed outside of the system, often over a number of years. Our challenge is one of attempting to deal with those problems, and when they are released, hopefully they will be in a better situation in terms of reintegrating into society. Here I'm talking about educational deficiencies, substance abuse problems, and mental health concerns in some cases.

There's also a bit of a truism, of course. The Correctional Service of Canada doesn't get to choose who it takes into its system. We open our doors and welcome everyone equally.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

It seems like you welcome them back over and over again. What I'm hearing from the evidence is that you're part of the problem as well in terms of welcoming people back over and over again.

The report basically says there hasn't been any improvement in the statistics since 1998 in terms of the percentage of aboriginal people in prison; the percentage of people reoffending; the disproportionate amount of the population being aboriginal women; the fact that there are still not as many aboriginal people being released as non-aboriginal people; and the overclassification. None of this has improved since 1998.

Do you have any statistics that would report that there has been any improvement in any of those areas since 1998?

[Don Demers]

I would hearken back to my comments. What we have seen is a plateauing of the incarcerate population at the federal level in the last few years. It's true that it hasn't gone down, but it isn't going up.

At the same time we're having to deal with a considerably, in our minds, different and hardened population. We're getting offenders now with much longer, more extensive criminal histories and more violent offences. There is substance abuse, and programming and substance abuse problems, I regret. We have those sorts of situations.

It's a tremendous challenge, there is no doubt about it. We are the first to be disappointed, often, in the results, but we deal with people on an individual basis. I certainly think from some of the stuff that I have seen--the programs that are being developed and that have been implemented--that we are making some progress in that regard.

Systemic discrimination...discrimination is always one of those great concepts that people can argue about almost ad infinitum, but I would be remiss if I didn't comment on at least the imputation in the report that somehow some kind of racial discrimination is being practised by Correctional Service of Canada. Basically, it's a profound insult to the staff, the thousands of people who work in that system on a day-to-day basis. It's really a tough job.

With reference to systemic discrimination, I find many of our differences are definitional in a sense. For systemic discrimination to occur, the two elements you are comparing have to be basically equal to begin with. The problem we have, in essence, is that aboriginal offenders and non-aboriginal offenders who come into the federal system are not equal to begin with. We apply actuarial assessment tools not on the basis of race, but on the basis of individual risk. Because of that difference in actuarial findings--and a history of violent offences and a criminal background are very important indicators--the tools will give you the results you get.

The correctional investigator believes this is discriminatory, and I would respectfully disagree.

[The Chair, Conservative, Colin Mayes]

We'll move on to the Bloc.

Go ahead, Mr. Lemay.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Good Afternoon. Thank you for being here.

I have 25 years of experience in criminal law. I live in Rouyn-Noranda and I have worked in itinerant court in aboriginal communities. We can therefore speak man to man, or woman to woman, if you like.

Do you have any statistics on the number of aboriginals who are in federal custody for their first offence? I am talking about a first life sentence, either for murder or a serious offence. Where do these aboriginals live? For instance, do they come from the Wendake aboriginal community near Quebec City? Do they live in cities such as Winnipeg, Calgary or Regina? Do you have numbers to this effect?

Like you, I have read the Gladue decision. But you have had to apply this ruling, which is even worse. We have argued it, but you have had to apply it. I would like to know more about this important and essential Supreme Court ruling on an aboriginal inmate's right to be treated differently. I am weighing my words. We have to take into account where that aboriginal comes from.

I have a very specific example. It is very different to be incarcerated in a penitentiary with a degree in medicine or as a professor, than it is to arrive from an aboriginal community without a job or anything at age 20 or 22, when the only thing you have ever known is alcohol.

I would also like to know how you have applied the Gladue decision in the past two years, or the time it took to assimilate it and apply it everywhere. What has the Gladue decision changed?

I hope I am not troubling you too much.

[Don Demers]

I will try to answer your first two questions. I am sure that data exists, but unfortunately I do not have any with me.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Could you have it forwarded to us?

[Don Demers]

Certainly.

The percentage of aboriginal and non aboriginal people who are serving their first sentence in a federal penitentiary should not be too high. It is more often their last offence than the beginning of this route.

As far as the Gladue decision is concerned, I would look at the continuum of care model developed by Correctional Service Canada, which incorporates all the steps in the process, from entering the penitentiary to supervision in the community. I think this respects the needs of aboriginal inmates. For example, when an inmate enters a penitentiary, they are monitored and assessed for a period of 60 to 90 days. Elders are now participating in this process.

It is a question of willingness. If an aboriginal inmate wants to become involved, he can. The elder and our liaison officers, who are aboriginals, become members of the inmate's case management team. He can then stay in one of the penitentiary pathways healing units, which are strictly for aboriginal inmates.

A series of culturally appropriate programs have been developed for the pathways healing units to respond to the needs of the aboriginals. Again, the elders take part in the process. Case preparation has just been implemented to allow aboriginal staff to make a presentation, for example, to the National Parole Board. This also helps in the supervision of the aboriginal inmate once he goes back to his community.

Perhaps my colleague wants to add to that.

[Ross Toller, Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, Correctional Service Canada]

As Mr. Demers pointed out, we will be giving you a lot more detailed information. In very much general terms, the rate of violent offending among aboriginal men and aboriginal women is much higher than those of non-aboriginal people. Although murder rates tend to stay the same, the number of those who serve time, say, for the more schedule 1, prolific, violent types of offences is significantly higher. It speaks to the point that Mr. Demers mentioned, that we are the receivers of those who have gone in front of the criminal justice system and have received a sentence.

Where they actually come from, although we do have some data on that...the intake looks at the place of sentencing. So it could very well be someone who comes from a reserve in Manitoba but who is sentenced in downtown Winnipeg.

There are those elements of nuancing, so when you get this information, Mr. Lemay, please look at it in that context.

We do break it down and do differentiate even in some important factors of our programming intake relative to what we would see as those who have been traditional reserve aboriginal people and those who have basically grown up in urban settings. There is a difference in terms of responsivity.

The last point I would just add in keeping with Mr. Demers' point is that he mentions the Pathways units, which are a response to address aboriginal needs. There are also very specific institutions we have built--healing lodges--and there are eight of these across the country, including some contained directly on aboriginal reserves. They are absolutely unique, in which the full development started with the aboriginal leaders in those communities, including the design, including programming infrastructure, and including the local hiring of staff.

In addition, we have agreements with a number of communities--these are under section 84 of the act--for the release of aboriginal offenders to a community where there is a community acceptance. So there is quite a bit of responsivity to moving toward public safety results with this group of people.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.