Last week, Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti (LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Que.) met with his provincial and territorial counterparts to discuss justice and public safety priorities, during which National Indigenous Organizations were consulted on issues surrounding Indigenous justice and policing. The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples was purposely excluded from the list of NIOs invited. CAP National Chief … Read more
On Feb. 22, Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti (LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, Que.) met with Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers responsible for Justice and National Indigenous Organizations – with the exclusion of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and Native Women’s Association of Canada – two of the five recognized NIOs. The meeting concerned the Indigenous Justice Program and policing. “Over 80 … Read more
The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s Annual Report was tabled in Parliament last week, detailing what we already know: that there are significant gaps in the Correctional Service of Canada’s compliance with safe and humane standards of custody that affects Indigenous people, and that Indigenous inmates have disproportionately higher rates of use of force and face … Read more
In response to the dangers of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant spreading in Canada’s over-crowded prison systems, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.), calling on him to take necessary steps to expedite the release of low-risk offenders and people on remand to limit the spread … Read more
CAP is calling on every Canadian to take notice of the abuse Indigenous people are facing in Canada’s justice system, and demand change. Correctional Investigator, Dr. Ivan Zinger, released new data showing that Indigenous women make up nearly 50 per cent of all federally-sentenced women across this country. This does not take into consideration the provincial data. “If … Read more
This federal Budget includes a range of measures termed support for “Strong Indigenous Communities” with a total of $13 billion in announced new spending measures under that category. Not a single dollar has been allocated solely to off-reserve Non-Status, Métis and Inuit Indigenous communities of Canada. “This budget could make a difference for our communities, but … Read more
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples issued a statement regarding police brutality on Emily Kammermayer, a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, in Dec. 2020. National Vice-Chief Kim Beaudin stated “This is a case of systemic racism in our healthcare system, unprofessional conduct by the RCMP and police brutality all because a mother, an Indigenous woman, was trying … Read more
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples supports the July 9, 2020 policy announcement by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to decriminalize simple possession of illicit drugs, and the adoption of a public health focus on substance abuse. “The impact of decriminalization on indigenous people in Canada would be huge” says CAP Vice-Chief Kim Beaudin, “We … Read more
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples calls on all provincial attorney generals to dismiss charges and fines relating to COVID-19. According to the “Policing the Pandemic” report released by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on June 24, 2020, provincial government authorities ramped-up arbitrary law enforcement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, over $13 million … Read more
The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples calls on Saskatchewan Corrections and Policing Minister Christine Tell to resign over the wasteful expansion of Saskatoon remand center. Despite Saskatchewan running a $2.4 billion deficit, Premier Scott Moe has approved plans by Tell to expand the Saskatoon remand centre, at a planned cost of $120 million. This amount equals over $500,000 per cell, … Read more
