Thank you for your question.
I have to say there's no shortage of recommendations my office has made over the years on issues related to indigenous people in prison. My office has established six corporate priorities, and one of them is of course indigenous people, but another priority that is included in my annual report is women in corrections. Under that chapter we're certainly quite sensitive to the situation of women in general, but also indigenous women.
In this year's report we were very concerned about how women who are classified as maximum security and housed in what are referred to as “secure units” are being treated within the facilities of the Correctional Service of Canada. I would say anywhere between 50 and 60 women are classified as maximum security in federal penitentiaries, and nearly half of these women are actually indigenous in their background.
I think one thing we are also very sensitive to is that the rate of trauma among indigenous women is very high, extremely high. I would argue that, yes, they are offenders, but first and foremost they have also been victims. The rate of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse is extremely high. The rate of trauma is also extremely high. The rate among indigenous women with respect to self-harm and suicide attempts is off the charts, much higher than for non-indigenous women. The service confines these women in an overly restrictive and harsh environment when it comes to secure units. There is no therapeutic approach and certainly no trauma-informed approach to address the high needs of these women.