History Of The Aboriginal Justice Strategy

Background

The Aboriginal Justice Strategy plays a significant role in the federal government´s response to the over-representation of Aboriginal people in conflict with the law. In 2008, the Correctional Investigator reported that the incarceration rate for Aboriginal people is far higher than the rate for non-Aboriginal people:

“Nationally, Aboriginal people are less than 3 percent of the Canadian population, but they comprise almost 20 percent of the total federal prison population … Using the latest census data, we estimate the overall incarceration rate of Aboriginal Canadians to be 983 per 100,000, or almost nine times higher than the rate for non-Aboriginal people.” ¹

A national strategy to address Aboriginal justice issues was first discussed at “Native Peoples and Justice”, the landmark 1975 federal-provincial conference in Edmonton that brought together ministers and senior officials responsible for different aspects of justice administration. During this conference, they established and unanimously adopted guidelines for combined federal-provincial actions on Aboriginal justice.

The implementation of these guidelines was delayed until 1990 when the essential elements of the framework were provided in the final Report of the Interdepartmental Steering Committee on Community Self-Government Negotiations Subcommittee on Administration of Justice Issues, also called the Caron Report.

The Aboriginal Justice Initiative

In 1991, just as the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples began its work, the federal government launched the Aboriginal Justice Initiative, coordinated by the Department of Justice. The Initiative supported a range of community-based justice pilot projects across Canada, including diversion programs, community participation in the sentencing of offenders, mediation, and arbitration mechanisms for civil disputes.

The Aboriginal Justice Strategy

In 1996, partly in response to the Royal Commission´s reports and recommendations, the federal government renewed and expanded the Aboriginal Justice Initiative, renaming it the Aboriginal Justice Strategy. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Privy Council Office, and the former Office of the Solicitor General (now Public Safety Canada), including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, worked alongside Justice Canada to develop the Strategy. The number of programs grew from 14 in 1996, to 84 serving 280 communities in 2001, when the Strategy was renewed. By 2001, the Aboriginal Justice Strategy had expanded into eight provinces and all three territories with a variety of community-based justice programs.

In 2002, the Aboriginal Justice Strategy received additional funding along with a renewed and expanded five-year mandate. A new cost-sharing program was included that addressed program gaps for urban, off-reserve and Métis populations. For the first time, in 2003, all ten provinces and three territories were included in the cost-sharing structure, giving the Strategy a truly national composition.

The Aboriginal Justice Strategy was renewed with enhanced funding from 2007 until 2012. This enhanced funding allows the Strategy to provide more programming for urban, northern and off-reserve Aboriginal communities as well as better support and services for Aboriginal youth. In 2012, the AJS was renewed for one year.

Significant Legislative Developments

In 1996, Parliament adopted the following amendments to the Criminal Code (pertaining to adults only) to deal with diversion and sentencing:

• Section 717 of the Criminal Code clarifies conditions to be met for using alternative measures when dealing with a person alleged to have committed an offence.
• Sub-section 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code dictates that “all available sanctions other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the circumstances should be considered for all offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders”.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Gladue provided an interpretation of subsection 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code. This landmark decision provided a framework for personal background and social and economic conditions to be considered by sentencing judges when deliberating on offences committed by Aboriginal people. In Gladue, the Supreme Court also emphasized the far-reaching consequences of keeping Aboriginal offenders in a justice system that was failing to serve and to rehabilitate them.

The amendments to the Criminal Code, along with the Gladue decision, provide the context through which the RCMP, crowns, and judges can refer offenders to Aboriginal Justice Strategy programs.

Conclusion

Both the funding provided to community-based justice programs and the changes to the Criminal Code are working to divert, where possible, Aboriginal offenders from the mainstream justice system. These advances provide judges with a variety of sanctions other than imprisonment when Aboriginal offenders are involved in the mainstream justice system.

It is in this context that the Department of Justice has been funding community-based justice programs for the past 21 years. Currently, the AJS funds approximately 275 community-based programs that serve over 600 communities. It continues to make a positive impact in every province and territory.

How to contact us:

Our Web site is dedicated to providing information on the Aboriginal Justice Strategy for the Department of Justice Canada. If you have a comment, question, or concern that does not pertain to the Aboriginal Justice Strategy, you may wish to forward it to the main address of the Department of Justice Canada, which is available at http://canada.justice.gc.ca/eng/contact.html.

The Aboriginal Justice Strategy
The Aboriginal Justice Directorate
Department of Justice
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

Tel: 1-866-442-4468 (toll-free)
Fax: (613) 957-4697
ajs-sja@justice.gc.ca
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/ajs-sja/index.html

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, 2009-09-30

ISBN 978-1-100-50177-2
Cat. No. J2-356/2009

¹ The Correctional Investigator Canada. “Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator 2007-2008”. Ottawa, p. 33.