Northern Indigenous people may face added barriers to rehabilitation in federal prisons

The auditor general of Canada says there's a disconnect between Correctional Service Canada and the Indigenous inmates serving time in its prisons, and some say that's no surprise to northerners in custody.

In a fall report, Michael Ferguson points out some startling statistics to highlight the disconnect: only 31 per cent of Indigenous offenders get paroled, where half of non-Indigenous offenders do; Indigenous offenders are rated a higher risk in prisons; and despite attempts to address the disproportionately high number of First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders in its institutions, that number has grown by 25 per cent in the last 10 years.

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Though Indigenous people make up only three per cent of Canada's population, they accounted for 26 per cent of the federal prison population in 2015-2016, according to the report.

The report's recommendations include transitioning Indigenous offenders to lower-security institutions before they are released, increasing ways to consider an offender's Indigenous social history and offering more culturally specific rehab programs. 

Former N.W.T. John Howard Society executive director Lydia Bardak says Correctional Service Canada may not have a full grasp on how varied and unique Indigenous cultures are.

'What is this sweat lodge?'

She remembers a call she got from an Inuk man serving time in a federal prison in Vancouver.

"He called me to ask me, 'What is this sweat lodge and why do they want me to do that?' and I was thinking, 'Hmm, I guess Corrections Canada has a one-size-fits-all solution for Indigenous populations in custody.'"

Bardak says northerners sent to federal prisons are even more reliant on the institutions for support. Serving time many hundreds of kilometres from home, that's often all they have.

"It's highly unlikely that inmates are going to get visits from family," Bardak said.

"We don't have any assistance for transportation to institutions like Drumheller or Bowden or Grande Cache [in Alberta]."

The Assembly of First Nations says Correctional Service Canada needs to give First Nations a leading role in helping Indigenous offenders. In a statement released in the wake of the auditor general's report, it said the treatment of Indigenous inmates "compounds the effects of residential school."

Bardak says one of the best-received programs at Yellowknife's North Slave Correctional Centre — a territorial institution — was delivered by the Healing Drum Society. It was called Exploring our Human Nest.

"One time I was invited by one inmate to attend their graduation ceremony," she recalled.

"They had a feast afterward and presentation of certificates. The guys were really supporting each other and often times I heard good, positive comments about that program."

Correctional Service Canada has agreed to implement eight recommendations the auditor general made in his report, including having staff consider Indigenous social history, including residential schools, in their management of Indigenous offenders.