Senators' report calls for release of 12 imprisoned Indigenous women

Three senators are calling for the exoneration of 12 Indigenous women, some serving life sentences, and for their cases to be reviewed for possible miscarriages of justice. 

Sen. Kim Pate, one of the co-authors of a report released Monday, said the 12 cases were highlighted because the senators knew them well, but there are more out there.  

On Tuesday, Pate told The Current host Matt Galloway about one of the 12 cases where a woman was convicted of breaking and entering for sheltering in a school after fleeing her sexually abusive father. Once jailed, she faced subsequent charges for in-custody responses to things like strip searches. 

Pate said the woman developed isolation-induced schizophrenia, spending almost 11 years in segregation in prison, and another almost 11 years in the mental health system. 

Two of the 12 cases are sisters convicted of murder in the death of a former residential school caretaker who was propositioning them. Someone else later confessed to the man's killing. They have been in prison since 1994. 

"These are women who predominantly have responded to violence first perpetrated against them," she said. 

"Eight of them are serving life sentences, which means that from the time they were convicted — many of them in their teens or early 20s — they will be supervised and subject to be re-jailed until they die."

Pate said that one of the 12 women whose cases are cited in the report died last month. 

Earlier this month, the Office of the Correctional Investigator noted that Indigenous women now make up 50 per cent of women in federal prisons, a percentage that has been rising, when Indigenous women make up about five per cent of Canadian women.

Sen. Margaret Dawn Anderson, another of the report's co-authors, said in an emailed statement to CBC News that she hopes Canadians absorb the statistics and reflect on what that says about the society we live in. 

"The racism and the misogyny is evident," said Anderson, who is Inuvialuk from Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. 

Anderson said as an Indigenous woman who has worked within the criminal justice system, she is cognizant of the challenges, barriers, systemic racism and bias that exist, and she said in her position she has a duty to speak up.

"I think that a more balanced justice system will be an outcome of successful reconciliation," she said.

"The report released on Monday is a small part of the awareness-raising that must be done as part of this reconciliation work."

The report's four recommendations call for exoneration of the 12 Indigenous women mentioned and a group review of their cases, the elimination of mandatory minimum penalties, the elimination of over-representation of Indigenous people in prisons, and for a conviction review process that recognizes racism, class bias and misogyny experienced by Indigenous women can lead to miscarriages of justice. 

Case review commission

Justice Minister David Lametti said in an emailed statement to CBC News that he is reviewing the report by the senators and that there is a criminal conviction review process within his department. He said he is committed to creating an independent criminal case review commission. He said the shape of the new commission will be informed by the report. 

He also said Bill C-5, tabled in December, removes 21 mandatory minimum penalties that have unfairly affected Indigenous people, as well as Black and marginalized Canadians.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Tuesday, "Recent reports have just been appalling in seeing the overrepresentation, particularly of Indigenous women, in our criminal system."

Trudeau also mentioned Bill C-5 as a step forward, but said there is a long way to go. 

"We know there's much more to do and we will because tackling systemic injustice, systemic discrimination, which is real, is a long, hard work that we are committed to," he said.

Pate said the new bill is only "tinkering" and will not address the meat of the issue. She said a fundamentally different approach is needed. 

"If we really want to address this issue we have to take much clearer steps to ensure that judges have the opportunity to do their job," she said.

"A new commission might very well be available … unfortunately the current process has been shown to be wholly ineffective."