Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Equally, like my colleague Alfred Moses here, I too woke up this morning to the national news where they were piping out this story with a shocking, if not shameful, reality. One story clearly said that Aboriginal people are so vastly overrepresented in Canada’s federal prison system that current policies are clearly failing them. I could not agree more with that.
It went on to talk about the gaps in the corrections system, how it’s failing Aboriginal people. This is a shame. This should be a call to action, if not a simple marquis of this federal government to say let’s correct this, let’s set strategies to fix this problem once and for all.
As my colleague Mr. Moses had said, when you represent 4 percent of the national population, it’s almost a shame to hear that they’re proving the facts that they’re representing 23 percent of the federal prison population. Something is wrong. Something, clearly, is terribly wrong.
These alarming facts must be addressed. As a Member of this Assembly I also have a bit of an experience, if not a unique experience, I have a former experience of being a territorial employee who worked for the Department of Justice and I worked in the corrections system. I have witnessed these outlandish numbers of unfair balance whereas Aboriginal people truly are over-representing themselves in the corrections system. Again, this should be a shocking reality that this government wants to wake up to and say, what are we going to do. Perhaps this reality should motivate the Department of Justice to examine itself, its current practices and policies. Again, as a former corrections employee, I can tell you that at least 75 percent of the inmates there were all there because of things that were all driven by substance abuse that led them down that garden path into terrible circumstances. They became victims themselves, not just the victimizers of others, that were punished.
There are numerous options before us and they avail themselves through the courts, but there are more options out there than just punishment and punishment. What about treatment, treatment, treatment?
So I hope this McLeod government realizes, as they continue to cuddle up to the Conservatives, that, yes, there are many options out there besides crime and punishment that just inflicts further punishment. There are other options that are necessary due to certain circumstances. There are treatment options and there are poverty solutions. They are always a factor to the long-term solution. Don’t let us miss yet another opportunity to solve this problem.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Before we go on, colleagues, I would like to welcome Ms. Emma Ouellette, the daughter of our own Darrin Ouellette. Welcome to the House, Emma. Can you stand up? There you go. Welcome.
Today I forgot, and I apologize to my mother-in-law and father-in-law, it’s their 43rd wedding anniversary today. Congratulations to Fred and Edith Bourke on their wedding anniversary. Thank you, colleagues, for taking the time for that.
Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Nadli.
