Alarm Raised Over Number Of Aboriginal Inmates

Alarm Raised Over Number Of Aboriginal Inmates

Friday, November 13, 2009 at 15:44

 

 

The watchdog for federal prisons says the number of Aboriginal inmates is soaring.

 

Howard Sapers says an independent report confirms Aboriginal rates of incarceration are now approaching nine times the national average.

 

The office of the correctional investigator says about one in every five inmates is Aboriginal.

 

Sapers says that is a staggering amount, considering Aboriginal people only make up about four per cent of the Canadian population.

 

What’s more, Sapers says he expects the problem to grow worse — because of the youth of the Aboriginal population and the current government’s “get tough on crime” approach.

 

Sapers says the main problem is that Aboriginal offenders spend much of their time in high-security units where they’re offered little programming.

 

When they are released, he says it’s with little supervision.

 

Sapers is calling for the immediate appointment of a deputy commissioner to oversee Aboriginal corrections.

 

He says, right now, no one knows who is accountable for the problem.