The Globe & Mail
July, 20, 2011
Highlights:
"Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says first nations children are more likely to go to jail than to graduate from high school. Shocking indeed, but true. In its Throne Speech, the Harper government renewed its commitment to aboriginals. Yet, during the federal election campaign, there was hardly a mention by any party leader of the plight of first nations peoples and the destitute social and economic conditions in which they continue to live.
Federal correctional investigator Howard Sapers, in his 2009 report, says that the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal offenders continues to grow and that the rate for aboriginal incarceration in 2008 was nine times the national average. This gap will widen and these numbers will increase with the Harper government's proposed crime bill. The ugly reality is that aboriginals will be especially hard hit by this legislation."
Federal correctional investigator Howard Sapers, in his 2009 report, says that the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal offenders continues to grow and that the rate for aboriginal incarceration in 2008 was nine times the national average. This gap will widen and these numbers will increase with the Harper government's proposed crime bill. The ugly reality is that aboriginals will be especially hard hit by this legislation."
