I'm from the Native Women's Association of Canada in Ottawa.
The proposed change in conditional sentences undermines the fundamental principles of sentencing, which emphasize elements of restorative justice. This is especially true for aboriginal populations, for whom restorative justice is rooted in a healing world view.
Aboriginal women, children, and families understand fear. But to see a fear-based approach to changing legislation and to blame it on conditional sentencing seems a regressive measure. The following quote from a parliamentary publication indicates such a fear-based rationale:
The fear is that to refuse to incarcerate an offender can bring the entire conditional sentence regime, and hence the criminal justice system, into disrepute. In other words, it is not--