Justice commission report focuses on Aboriginal youth

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The Commission on First Nations and Metis Peoples and Justice Reform released a 62-page interim report on January 17, and Saskatchewan's First Nations leaders received its comments and conclusions with interest and cautious optimism. The focus of this, the second interim report the commission has issued since it was established in November 2001, was primarily on the experiences of Aboriginal youth.

"The statistics show Aboriginal youth in Saskatchewan are being incarcerated at rates well beyond what is acceptable," the report stated. "This report takes a look at the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) that will become law on April 1, 2003. A preliminary study of the act indicates that while there are opportunities for positive change in the way the justice system deals with young people, there are concerns."

Those concerns include a general lack of understanding about the changes the YCJA will introduce, not enough Aboriginal input during the drafting of the act, and questions over whether the act goes far enough in supporting alternative justice initiatives that can decrease the need for incarceration.

These and many other concerns were identified through an extensive consultation process, which saw the five individuals who sit on the commission-chairperson Willie Littlechild, Hugh Harradence, Joe Quewezance, Glenda Cooney and Irene Fraser -visit communities and facilities across Saskatchewan. Meadow Lake, Beauval, La Loche, Sandy Bay, Pelican Narrows and Black Lake were among the commissioners' stops, and in each centre, they heard similar stories of how the police, the courts, and the legal aid system currently fall far short in their efforts to deal with Aboriginal needs and realities.

"For years we have been telling Sask Justice that there are problems with the justice system," commented Vice-Chief Lawrence Joseph of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN). "Problems in policing, legal services, jails and prisons, and youth justice. Our calls for a justice system that meets the needs of First Nations people have fallen on deaf ears until now."

The recently released report contains a number of recommendations for the provincial government to consider, and it is these recommendations that have Joseph and the FSIN hopeful about the future.

"The justice system that we as First Nations people have always wished for and demanded needs to focus on healing, not punishment and incarceration," said Joseph. "The commission did recommend a lot of these things. We're pleased to have the commission formally recognize both the larger social context of First Nations interaction with the penal and justice systems, and the need for a system that includes First Nations culture, traditions and values."

While much of the material in the interim report focused on the negative, several examples of positive, successful justice initiatives were also highlighted. The FSIN's Special Investigation Unit (SIU), a body established in 2000 to investigate complaints of police misconduct, and supported by donations from all the federation's 73 First Nations, was one initiative that the report singled out as having "tremendous value."

"The SIU . . . can actually investigate, independently, improprieties or criminal activities by uniformed police officers. All the references (in the report) to the SIU are very encouraging," said Joseph.

The Commission on First Nations and Metis Peoples and Justice Reform has a three-year mandate to identify efficient, effective and financially responsible reforms to the justice system, with the dual objectives of reducing the need for Aboriginal incarceration and building safer communities for all First Nations and Metis peoples. The commissioners will release a third interim report next spring, with a final report due in November 2004. Copies of the first two interim reports can be freely downloaded from the commission's Web site at www.justicereformcomm.sk.ca.