The court stated that judges must consider during sentencing the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders, as well as alternatives to jail time. That consideration, enshrined in the Criminal Code and now known as the Gladue principle, was intended to address the over-representation of Indigenous people in Canadian jails. The report calls on governments to assess the impacts of the Gladue principle on “sentencing equity” in such cases. But we already have opportunities to deal with those people in the Criminal Code.”Dickson said such changes could have unintended consequences for Indigenous offenders. “We need to be very careful here, because although absolutely there are a large number of non-Indigenous men victimizing Indigenous women, there are also a large number of Indigenous men victimizing Indigenous women,” she said.

Source: National Post June 06, 2019 00:56 UTC