A legal expert says she thinks the Supreme Court of Canada got it right with a recent decision affirming the need for judges to take into account the social and historical backgrounds of Aboriginal offenders before sentencing them.
Wanda McCaslin is a research officer at the University of Saskatchewan’s Native Law Centre.
McCaslin says the ruling — which states judges must take into account such matters as colonialism, displacement, residential schools and other factors when sentencing Aboriginal people — is a step in the right direction.
She says the Gladue decision may not be getting the attention it once did in the courts, and so the ruling comes at an opportune time:
“There has been maybe less attention given to some of the Gladue factors — and what the Supreme Court of Canada is saying is: ‘No, we can’t take our eye off the ball here’.”
The Assembly of First Nations says it also is happy with the ruling.
The AFN says the Supreme Court has acknowledged that Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system has actually gotten worse since the Gladue decision was first made.