Pubdate: Fri, 05 May 2006
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2006, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Bill Curry, With reports from Katherine Harding, Karen 
Howlett, Rheal Seguin and Canadian Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

SASKATCHEWAN WARNS OF RISK TO JUSTICE SYSTEM

More Natives Will Be Jailed, Minister Fears

OTTAWA -- The percentage of aboriginals in Canadian jails is likely 
to increase as a result of the federal government's law-and-order 
measures introduced yesterday, Saskatchewan's Justice Minister says.

Frank Quennell, the Justice Minister in Saskatchewan's NDP 
government, said measures that require minimum jail times and limit 
conditional sentences could put at risk the province's unique justice 
programs aimed at its large aboriginal population.

Aboriginals now make up nearly one in five admissions to Canadian 
correctional services, far exceeding their representation in the 
general population of just 3 per cent.

The minister said Saskatchewan, which has the highest percentage of 
aboriginal residents in the country, has had some success in 
encouraging the use of penalties focused on native traditions of 
"restorative justice" rather than prison time.

The programs encourage native communities to find alternatives to 
jail, such as providing restitution to the victim of a crime, 
volunteering with a charity or attending counselling or addictions programs.

The changes could also prove difficult for Nunavut, which has similar 
restorative-justice programs for Inuit offenders, and where jails are 
already crowded. Records from the Nunavut Court of Justice show that 
in 2005, territorial judges handed down 203 conditional sentences 
compared with 189 jail terms.

"I would say that we have probably more conditional sentence orders 
than most jurisdictions in Canada," said Bonnie Tulloch, the regional 
director for the federal Justice Department, which prosecutes all 
crimes in the territory.

Ms. Tulloch acknowledged concerns for public safety, but also listed 
several instances where conditional sentences make sense. "The 
reality is, for some people, it is more difficult to serve your 
sentence in your own community, in your home, under house arrest, 
than it is to be flown to Iqaluit to [the Baffin Correctional Centre] 
and then to be flown back . . ."

According to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, which are 
from the 2003-04 fiscal year, aboriginals accounted for 21 per cent 
of admissions to provincial jails and 18 per cent of admissions to 
federal prisons. Aboriginal women make up 30 per cent of all female inmates.

Mr. Quennell said the federal government's measures could lead judges 
to acquit more people or convict them of lesser offences rather than 
see them get lengthy sentences.

Other provinces are welcoming the law-and-order package as long 
overdue. Several justice ministers expressed optimism that the strain 
on the prisons could be worked out.

In his budget speech on Tuesday, federal Finance Minister Jim 
Flaherty said the government is "setting aside funds to expand 
Canada's correctional facilities to house the expected increase in 
inmates as a result of changes in sentencing rules."

Provincial ministers say they will have to review the details of the 
bills to see whether the new laws would have a greater impact on 
federal prisons, which house those serving sentences over two years, 
or provincial jails, where detainees are serving less than two years.

Quebec's deputy minister of public security, Johanne Vallee, said 
Quebec's prisons are already filled to capacity.

"We will need to hold discussions with the federal government," she 
said. "Sentencing is a matter that the justice system handles and I'm 
sure it will be on the agenda of the federal-provincial justice 
ministers meeting in June."

There are currently 70 federal prisons in Canada and 116 provincial jails.

Alberta Solicitor-General Harvey Cenaiko expects the federal Tories' 
sentencing proposals will put more pressure on the province's 
correctional facilities, but that it "wouldn't have a huge effect."

Mr. Cenaiko predicts that the federal government will pick up most of 
the costs because it is responsible for guarding those handed lengthy 
sentences.

"We welcome those changes and believe they will have a positive 
impact on the justice system in Canada," Nova Scotia Justice Minister 
Murray Scott said.
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