Recently, we published a report entitled “Missed Opportunities: The Experience of Young Adults Incarcerated in Federal Penitentiaries”, which was about the issue of inmates aged 18 to 21.
We made 17 recommendations. We are still waiting for a reply from the Correctional Service of Canada.
What came out of the interviews we conducted with 94 inmates in that age group was that in general, there is no specific policy for that age group. In my opinion, the upcoming reforms should include a policy or a guideline from the commissioner for that age group. There are also no programs for these youths. In addition, parole officers have very little contact with those young offenders. They meet with them on average once or twice in a two-month period. We feel that there ought to be more follow-up to support these young people.
With regard to indigenous people, the most worrisome factor is the whole issue of affiliation with street gangs. There is really no strategy to distance these young people from street gangs, nor to prevent them from being recruited into them in our penitentiaries, thus jeopardizing their future lives.