Status of Women Committee on Dec. 5th, 2017

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

From what I understand, you said that the reason for not having it other than in the Prairies or in one specific region is that there aren't enough. Do we know how many need to be in a specific institution in order to have these services offered?

[Carol McCalla]

CSC is flexible about how many women it would need in order to start a program. Normally, they like to hold a program with about eight or 10 women, because they use a sharing approach, but they have been running their programs with four or five. They are flexible in that.

In some of their institutions, say in Atlantic Canada, there were maybe only two or three indigenous women. We noted in our audit that there were six offenders one year who had all been working with the elder but none of them had participated in indigenous programs, which we would have expected them to if they were working with an elder and had a healing plan documented in their file.

It's a matter of CSC ensuring that they can ramp up the resources for these women. Technically, these programs are available at each of their institutions. We just didn't necessarily see them being offered where we would have expected them to be offered.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you.

Can you give us examples of what these culturally specific programs look like? You mentioned the elder and communication group sessions. Is there anything more concrete than that?

[Carol McCalla]

What these programs do.... They call it a “continuum of care”. It's a holistic approach to healing. The correctional programs for women offenders are co-facilitated by an elder. I think that 50% to 80% of the time the program sessions have an elder with them. They have ceremonies and a culturally appropriate approach, which is very much driven by the elder.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you.

I'm going to pass on the rest of my time to Eva Nassif.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you very much for being with us and for answering our questions.

My first question is for Mr. Ferguson.

I have not had time to read the report, but I apprised myself of your recommendations, which arise from the observations you made about the detention conditions of indigenous women.

Could you mention some of the programs that are not accessible, or that are not available when they are needed for indigenous women offenders?

[Michael Ferguson]

Overall we indicated that although these are programs for indigenous women offenders, they are not always available when they are needed. And so it is not possible for these inmates to begin these programs when they need to try to solve their particular situation. There are appropriate programs that exist for these inmates, but they are not available at the proper time.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Ms. McCalla, do you want to add something to what Mr. Ferguson said concerning the conditions that led him to make these recommendations?

[Carol McCalla]

Concerning program delivery?

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Precisely.

[Carol McCalla]

We noted, for instance, that it takes a lot of time to complete each program. It can take around five months. Most women are ready to be released in less than one year and so they cannot finish a program they begin before the date of their release.

We therefore recommended that Correctional Service Canada examine, on the one hand, the time needed to complete the programs, and on the other, the possibility of beginning them earlier during their detention period.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Do I have time for another question, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have time to ask one other question.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

My question will be for Mr. Ferguson, and it concerns the appropriate measures to be taken to identify the women offenders who need mental health services.

Mr. Ferguson, what led you to make these recommendations concerning these women offenders?

[Michael Ferguson]

In the case of these offenders, we detected a lack of mental health services, particularly as concerns personnel. The positions exist but they are vacant.

Moreover, Correctional Service Canada uses segregation cells to try to manage the offenders who have mental health issues. This is not an adequate environment to manage this type of person. There are vacant positions that must be filled so that Correctional Service Canada can have the necessary staff to provide these services. It is not appropriate either that Correctional Service Canada uses segregation cells to manage the women who suffer from these problems.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

That's excellent. Thank you so much.

Now, we have an important time. Are you able to stay with us for the next 40 minutes, Mr. Ferguson?

[Michael Ferguson]

It's whatever the committee wishes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

With all the excellent answers we are getting, I believe that would be wonderful, if you wouldn't mind staying with Ms. McCalla.

What we're going to do is suspend for about 35 seconds—and I'm counting—and we're going to ask the additional members to join the panel. They will be given seven minutes to provide their statements and then we'll go a round with question period. We are suspending for seconds.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

We're going back into session now. Thank you very much.

I will start by introducing Elizabeth Hendy. She is the director general of the programs branch in the policy sector of the Department of Justice.

From the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, we have Shirley Cuillierrier, who is the assistant commissioner and senior adviser on reconciliation and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

We will start with Elizabeth, for seven minutes.

[Elizabeth Hendy, Director General, Programs Branch, Policy Sector, Department of Justice]

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you about this important issue.

As indicated, I am Elizabeth Hendy. I am the director general of the programs branch within the Department of Justice. My branch is responsible for the management of all grants and contribution programs administered by the department. Many of our programs provide support to indigenous women in contact with the criminal justice system—whether they are accused persons, victims, witnesses, or family members—and they attempt to specifically address the underlying issues that are resulting and contributing to crime.

I will start with a short explanation of the various funds that we administer and then provide you with a little bit more detail.

For indigenous people who are accused of a crime, the department works with the provinces and territories to support the indigenous court work program. This program helps indigenous persons involved in the criminal justice system to obtain fair, just, equitable, and culturally relevant treatment.

As well, we administer the indigenous justice program, or the IJP, formerly called the aboriginal justice strategy. This provides cost-effective, culturally relevant alternatives to the mainstream justice program in appropriate circumstances where we are trying to promote meaningful reparation of harm for the victims, offenders, and the communities. The department also provides criminal legal aid funding that can assist low-income accused.

For victims of crime, the department provides funding for culturally relevant victim supports and specific funding for family information liaison units and community-based programs in parallel to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls through our victims fund.

Finally, through our justice partnership and innovation program, we provide funding to address the important issues of violence against indigenous women and girls, family violence, and missing and murdered women and girls.

I'll now provide you a bit of information about these programs.

The indigenous court work program has been operating since 1978, and we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of this much-needed program in 2018. This program assists indigenous adults and youth who are charged with an offence or otherwise involved in the criminal justice system in obtaining fair, just, equitable, and culturally relevant treatment.

What does that mean? It means that if an individual is in a courtroom and they look indigenous, a court worker is going to go to them to help them and try to figure out if they know why they're there, why they've been charged, and what their rights and responsibilities are, as well as whether they've been given access to legal aid and have a lawyer. We're going to work with them to try to get them through the court process as quickly as possible, in a way that is culturally relevant and that hopefully will not lead to their incarceration.

With court worker services, individuals are getting more information on their charges. They're understanding the court procedures. They're understanding their rights and responsibilities, and perhaps for the first time, they're understanding that there are community justice alternatives that they could be accessing. They're also getting access to support for legal resources and having a better understanding of what's happening with the court officials, the accused, and the family members.

The indigenous court work program operates in every province and territory, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick, but we are working with those provinces to see if we can bring them into the program.

Annually, 55,000 to 60,000 individuals are served by the court work program. Of those individuals, 17,000 are indigenous women—accused persons, victims, witnesses, or family members—and they are receiving services from a court worker on an annual basis. Of the overall population served by the court work program, 32% are women. Currently there are 198 indigenous court workers across the country, and 70% of those individuals are indigenous women trying to help their colleagues within their communities.

Indigenous court work program clients will benefit from an increased understanding of the criminal justice system and increased awareness of their rights and their obligations and the social services available to them.

Another key program is the indigenous justice program, which supports innovative, community-based justice programming that is helping to address the overrepresentation of indigenous women in the criminal justice system. This program has been in operation since 1991 and is delivered in partnership with all provinces and territories. It offers a variety of services for offenders, including healing and sentencing circles with victims and community members, letters of apology, restitution, on-the-land healing, community service, referral to drug and alcohol counselling, and victim-offender mediation.

Budget 2017 provided an ongoing permanent mandate for this program, and currently there are about 197 federally supported community justice programs across the country, reaching close to 750 indigenous communities and serving over 9,000 clients annually.

Community justice programs work to address the root causes and tailor approaches to the circumstances of offenders, the needs of the individual, and most importantly, the justice values of the communities that they serve.

The outcomes for the participants going through these programs are quite impressive; 89% of the clients who are diverted to a community justice program have successfully completed their justice processes and client obligations and are not incarcerated as a result. From a recidivism point of view, 43% of those who have completed the program are less likely to reoffend than are those who did not participate.

When it comes to legal aid, the federal government works with the provinces and territories to provide specialized culturally appropriate services for indigenous people, including indigenous women facing criminal charges.

I also would like to briefly talk about our victims fund. We are also providing support for victims of crime. In particular, as I mentioned, there are the family information liaison units, or the FILUs, that we are working with in parallel with the national inquiry. Through our justice partnership and innovation program, we are also attempting to raise awareness about reducing violence against indigenous women, address family violence within communities, and help to address the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

I'll end it there, but I hope you have been able understand somewhat that the Department of Justice is attempting to work with our provinces and territories, most importantly with indigenous communities, to provide funding to assist in addressing the overrepresentation of indigenous women. Albeit with limited funding, we are attempting to listen to the communities with regard to what they need to better manage these individuals.

I look forward to any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Excellent. Thank you so much.

Now we're going to move over for seven minutes with Shirley.

Thank you.

[Superintendent Shirley Cuillierrier, Assistant Commissioner, Senior Advisor on Reconciliation and the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and honourable committee members.

I would like to thank you for the invitation to speak to you on your important study on indigenous women in the federal justice and correctional system.

I would also like to acknowledge that we are meeting on unceded traditional Algonquin territory.

My name is Shirley Cuillierrier. I am the senior adviser on reconciliation in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. I am a Mohawk woman and a member of the Kanesatake First Nation. My traditional name, given to me by my tota, is Kwanarataionne.

The safety and well-being of indigenous women and girls remains a priority of the RCMP. As such, the RCMP recognizes that in order to best serve and protect indigenous women and girls, ongoing work is required to foster and maintain respectful and trusting relationships with indigenous people.

Although the RCMP has a long history of working co-operatively with indigenous people, for some there remains a feeling of fear and distrust towards the police and the criminal justice system.

In 2013, the RCMP took leadership on the issue of violence against indigenous women and girls by undertaking a comprehensive study on police-reported incidents. The research consolidated data from police agencies and Statistics Canada. The results collected enabled the RCMP to gain insight into the vulnerability faced by indigenous women and the disproportionality of their victimization. The study aimed to provide a better understanding of the root causes of victimization, and highlighted the need to adopt a multidisciplinary, whole-of-government approach.

The RCMP is committed to working in collaboration with indigenous communities, partners and stakeholders and indigenous organizations, to ensure that they provide policing services that are transparent, responsive, respectful and culturally appropriate.

For the RCMP, trust and transparency in processes means that everyone, especially the most vulnerable populations, feel safe and confident in reporting crime. When filing a police report, complainants need to feel safe, respected, believed, and trust that appropriate action and follow-up will take place.

For example, in Nova Scotia people now have the option to affirm their oaths or give their statements using the sacred eagle feather. Adopting this traditional practice serves to increase the comfort of the victim, witnesses, and the accused.

The RCMP updated its missing persons policy. The policy emphasizes that missing persons cases must be given priority, and ensures it is supported by the necessary level of supervision throughout the course of the investigation. It requires ongoing and timely communication with the family or reporting parties and ensures that support to families be accessible if required, including referrals to culturally appropriate victim services. The RCMP has implemented a standardized risk assessment tool for missing persons investigations.

The RCMP continues to work toward building trust and confidence within indigenous communities through efforts such as identifying communities vulnerable to violence against indigenous women and girls. Through the identification, the RCMP has been able to focus prevention, intervention, and enforcement efforts to reduce vulnerabilities and incidents of violence against women and girls.

The RCMP has also aligned funding provided under the family violence initiative to support community-led programs within these communities. One such program, led by subject matter expert Diane Redsky uses community forums to help raise awareness about the risks of violence against women, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking. The forums bring community members together to provide crucial information on how indigenous women and girls can protect themselves. The community forums can also lay the foundation for the development of community action plans, a community specific plan that focuses on these critical issues.

A National Indigenous Liaison position has been created to support regular and transparent communication with indigenous leadership. Furthermore, the RCMP and the Assembly of First Nations have signed a relationship building protocol to promote relationship building and co-operation in policing matters between first nations and the RCMP. The RCMP has formed various committees which provide opportunities for expert exchange of ideas and opportunities.

The RCMP provides cultural awareness training to all its employees, with the belief that it is important to understand and be sensitive to the history of colonialism and discrimination that indigenous communities have faced. Many of the socio-economic conditions that continue to plague indigenous communities have made indigenous women and girls vulnerable to violent victimization.

Of particular importance to your area of study, the RCMP has engaged in a variety of restorative justice programs across Canada. Pre-charge restorative justice practices can divert offenders from the formal criminal justice system and provide opportunities for reconciliation between victims and offenders. The RCMP supports these practices and believes they are very beneficial to indigenous women by diverting them from criminal charges. It also protects them from harm through reconciliation and restoration. For example, the RCMP is working with the indigenous justice program to establish programs in Nova Scotia and Manitoba.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today and to share with you our commitment to improve the justice system for indigenous women.

Recognizing the complexity of this issue, the RCMP understands that a whole-of-government approach is necessary to create effective and lasting change. The RCMP is committed to working closely with our federal and provincial partners and most importantly with indigenous women and girls, who bring experience and expertise to your areas of study.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much for the presentations.

We're now going to begin our first round of questioning.

Bernadette Jordan has the first seven minutes.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for appearing today. It's been very interesting.

Ms. Hendy, when you were talking about the aboriginal court work program, you said if they look indigenous you approach them to see if they know about the program. I find that quite an interesting comment. I'd also like to know what you do if they don't look indigenous.