We would certainly like to see the option of strengthening community sentences, community-based sentences, and community release.
To flag one issue, although there may be some successful cases coming out of these healing lodges, something that I ran out of time before being able to say it—clearly my own fault—was that Canada's colonial history has created a real climate and a culture of distrust, where indigenous people and indigenous women see the justice system as not representing them. Therefore, many women in these programs feel that the cultural programming available in prisons represents another form of colonialism, and that's because the programs themselves are largely developed, defined, and designed by the Canadian government and administered by non-indigenous staff.
An issue is that many of these programs present a homogenized view of indigenous cultures, whereas the reality is that the indigenous population of Canada is not an homogeneous population. Many of these programs fail to recognize that teachings and practices that may be relevant in some communities are non-existent in others. What might be protocol, a teaching, or culture in Treaty No. 6 territory, where most of these healing lodges are, would quite simply not be relevant to Inuit, Anishinaabeg, or Maliseet attendees. Acknowledging the differences between first nations, Métis, and Inuit women, as well as the distinct identities within these groups, would lead to the creation and implementation of more effective programs.