I think there is a significant body of research about aboriginal youth and their overrepresentation in the youth justice system. On a national and provincial basis, we have Stats Canada data that breaks it down by aboriginal status in every province and compares the absolute rate with the population-based rate.
Then we have research about individual projects that are intended to respond to young people. We also have work on some of the social factors, like fetal alcohol syndrome, that result in higher rates of youth offending. As with other issues, there's a complex interaction between the social factors and the legal factors.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act specifically refers to aboriginal status. It is something that should be taken into account in sentencing, but this is not always done. For probation officers, there's the so-called Gladue portions of probation reports, which are intended to address this matter. They're not always completed.