Alberta Native justice probe delayed one month

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Edmonton

A government probe into Native justice in Alberta will be delayed for one month until October.

A committee made up of Indian, Metis and government representatives was scheduled to begin a study Sept.. 1 to determine why a disproportionate number of Natives are in

provincial jails.

But last week, it was revealed there will be a delay in the process.

In August, Solicitor General Dick Fowler announced a task force will be established to address the situation of the increasing number of Native prisoners incarcerated in Alberta

jails.

However, the terms of the study have not yet been approved by cabinet and all the members of the committee have yet to be appointed.

The task force was announced after six months of negotiations between the government and Native leaders from Alberta after they persuaded provincial officials to conduct a

comprehensive study of the judicial system.

The pressure from Native leaders for a probe escalated after a government report indicated that 29 percent of adults jailed in Alberta by the end of March 1988 were Native

even though Natives make up only 4.4 per cent of the province's population.

The five member panel will review all events leading up to the jailing of Native inmates including police procedures, court hearings and prison rehabilitation.

Social and economic standards will also be reviewed.

The task force plans to examine all stages of the system and how it affects Native people, said the president of the Indian Association of Alberta (IAA).

"It will identify all areas to see what treatment is different (between Native and non-Native prisoners),: Roy Louis said.

Louis pointed out the government probe comes at the time when four inquiries into the treatment of Natives are under way across Canada.

In three inquiries presently under way, beginning with the Donald Marshall case in Nova Scotia and probes in Ontario and Manitoba, judges have heard testimony that Natives

are largely excluded from the criminal justice system, except as defendants.

The task force will be the joint effort of the IAA, Metis Association of Alberta, the Alberta Solicitor General's office and the Alberta Attorney-General's department.

Members of the task force will be appointed to study government policies, court reports and social service statistics.

Under the proposed terms of reference, the task force will conduct public hearings around the province to investigate the relationship between Natives and police, the quality of

legal aid and the cultural and language differences Natives face when they go to non-Native court.

The IAA has named University of Lethbridge Native Studies professor Leroy Little Bear to sit on the committee.

Little Bear, a law graduate from the University of Utah in 1975, has been active in Alberta Native politics for several years.

His appointment is the only one to be confirmed so far.