Good afternoon, and thank you.
On behalf of the Chiefs of Ontario, we appreciate the opportunity to present our views on Bill C-32, An Act to enact the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and to amend certain Acts to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
We believe that our experiences as first nations people in Canada, a demographic that's largely over-represented in the criminal justice system, as both offenders and victims, will bring a uniquely first nation perspective and insight to inform the committee.
The Chiefs of Ontario is a political forum representing 133 first nations within the province of Ontario. We appear before you today to make clear our position on Bill C-32. While the proposed victims' bill of rights is introduced to give victims of crime a more effective voice in the criminal justice system, we respectfully submit that it can better reflect the unique circumstances and needs of first nations persons who are victims of crime.
It is important to examine the issues of victimization and victims of crime in a broader context to fully understand its significance in relation to first nations people, persons, and communities. We invite you to consider the following facts and statistics.
A 2006 report entitled “Victimization and offending among the Aboriginal population in Canada” found that both crime and victimization rates are several times higher among first nations persons than non-first nation persons. This 2006 report found that a first nation person was three times more likely than a non-first nation person to be a victim of violent crime. Violent crimes committed against a first nation person are more likely to be committed by someone they know, such as a relative, friend, or neighbour, compared to non-first nation person. Generally on-reserve crime rates in 2004 were approximately three times higher than rates in the rest of Canada. The difference is even greater for violent crime, with an on-reserve rate that is eight times the violent crime rate of the rest of the country. A first nation person is more likely to be as victim of homicide than a non-first nation person. Between 1997 and 2000, the average homicide rate for first nations persons was 8.8 per 100,000 people, almost seven times higher than the rate for non-first nations persons of 1.3 per 100,000. The authors of this 2006 report indicated that it's possible that the statistics on the victimization of first nations persons may be even higher among vulnerable first nations groups.
It is to be noted that the current Conservative government has stated that it has completed 34 reports since 2006, out of the 40 total reports completed between 1996 and 2013, on the issue of missing and murdered first nations women and girls. While these reports focus on a specific subset of first nations citizens, namely first nations women and girls, they do highlight and support the disproportionate statistics of victimization within first nations communities.
The causes of the higher rates of crime and victimization among first nations communities are varied and complex. Continued colonialization and systemic discrimination against first nations persons have provoked traumas that have carried through successive generations and have manifested themselves through addictions, physical violence, and sexual abuse.
Victims of crime are not homogenous group. As such, the proposed Bill C-32 must recognize that first nations persons face unique difficulties within the criminal justice system and society at large.
The proposed victims' bill of rights has the potential to become a meaningful tool to reduce the over-representation of first nations victims of crime if it is amended to be inclusive of the following considerations.
First, the unique circumstances of first nations persons and communities that are victims of crime should be considered. If passed, Bill C-32 would allow the addition of the words “and consistent with the harm done to victims or to the community” to paragraph 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code. With this addition, it is our view that the consideration of the unique circumstances of first nations persons before the courts as offenders, as set out by the court in the Gladue decision and later affirmed in R. v. Ipeelee, should be extended to first nations victims and related first nations communities. Further, this information should be presented through independent counsel to the judiciary for consideration during sentencing.
In the 1999 decision of R. v. Gladue, the Supreme Court of Canada, in its interpretation of paragraph 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, acknowledged that within the Canadian criminal justice system, first nations persons differ from non-first nations persons because many aboriginal people are victims of systemic and direct discrimination.
It is clear that unique and dynamic relationships exist between first nations offenders, victims, and community. As stated in Gladue, the appropriateness of a particular sanction is largely determined by considering the needs of the victims and the community, as well as the offender.
One recommendation we have here is that a specific reference to aboriginal persons, with particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal victims, be added to clause 15 of the victims bill of rights and to subsection 672.5(14) of the Criminal Code.
Another consideration is representation of the voices of first nations victims and first nations communities. Our recommendation there is that aboriginal persons and communities who are victims of crime should be provided with their own independent legal counsel to represent their input in order to ensure that their unique aboriginal circumstances are represented within any criminal justice matter. This should be reflected in clause 27 of the victims bill of rights.
Another consideration, where first nations victims and communities are concerned, is that first nations-based restorative justice mechanisms must be utilized. Our recommendation there is for the addition of a provision stating that any criminal justice matter in which an aboriginal victim and/or community is involved should be referred to a restorative justice mechanism should the victim so choose.
Another consideration is support for first nations communities through programs and services specific to the needs of first nations victims. Our recommendation there is that a federal first nations victims justice fund be created to support aboriginal programs and services that respond specifically to the urgent need for adequate and culturally relevant programs and services for first nations victims of crime and their families, similar to that of Ontario's victims justice fund, and be used to administer various programs and provide grants to community agencies to assist victims of crime.
Finally, another consideration is addressing the systemic barriers for first nations victims. Our recommendation there is that a specific reference to the provision of support mechanisms for first nations victims and communities be added to the victims bill of rights.
In closing, we wish to reiterate our view that the considerations that we bring forward to you today with respect to the proposed victims bill of rights have the potential to begin to address the overrepresentation of first nations victims of crime. For almost 20 years, much work has been done to address the growing problem of first nations overrepresentation. We firmly believe that amending the proposed victims bill of rights to consider the specific and unique circumstances of first nations victims and communities will be a step forward in reconciling the overrepresentation of first nations persons within the Canadian criminal justice system, as offenders and as victims, and a move towards healing first nations persons and communities.
Thank you.