Aboriginal youth tackle jury under-representation
When an aboriginal person is accused of a crime, there's one thing he or she can count on: there likely won't be any aboriginal faces on the jury. (CBC)
It's one of the touchstones of the criminal justice system: the right to be heard by a jury of your peers. But in many First Nations communities, it's proving difficult to fill the jury box with representative faces. And some argue there's a link between the under-representation of First Nations people on juries, and their over-representation in prisons.
The Supreme Court of Canada is now considering a case to determine how far a province needs to go to make sure First Nations people are included on jury rolls. The case stems from a manslaughter conviction of an aboriginal man in Ontario that was quashed -- because the jury was not representative. The Supreme Court has yet to rule. But there are efforts underway to try to remedy the problem.
Last year, retired Supreme Court justice Frank lacobbuci delivered a report on the issue, including recommendations. He feels young people are an important part of the solution.
Karla Kakegamic is one of the youth participants and organizers of the Feathers for Hope Forum. A conference held last week in Thunder Bay to look at how to fix the criminal justices system.
Katherine Hensel is a First Nations litigator who frequently works with First Nations communities. She represented one of the intervenors in the Clifford Kokopenance case. His manslaughter conviction was overturned because of inadequate representation of First Nations jurors. It's now before the Supreme Court.
There are recommendations in Frank Iacobbuci's report into First Nations representation on juries... and more recommendations coming out of last week's meeting of First Nations youth in Thunder Bay.
Alvin Fiddler has agreed to help implement those ideas. He co-chairs the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General's "Juries Review Implementation Committee." He's the Deputy Grand Chief at Nishnawbe Aski Nation in northern Ontario.
This segment was produced by The Current's Josh Bloch, Ines Colabrese and Peter Mitton.