Are healing lodges the answer to aboriginal prison overrepresentation?

Canada’s aboriginal community is vastly overrepresented in the country’s federal prison system and the issue appears to be getting worse.

Incarceration does not seem to be reaching the societal core of the problem and yet, while the federal government may have already stumbled upon a holistic solution, they appear hesitant to put it into practice.

Yet the issue of aboriginal inmates is at a breaking point, and something has to be done.

A special report released this week by the Office of the Correctional Investigator says the federal prison population is 23 per cent aboriginal, while the community makes up just four per cent of Canada's overall population.

That 23 per cent population rate has increased from 14 per cent just six years ago, suggesting the problem is getting worse. Aboriginal inmates were also found to be less likely to be granted parole and more likely to reoffend.

"Aboriginal-specific legislative provisions are chronically under-funded, under-utilized and unevenly applied by the Correctional Service. In failing to fully meet Parliament’s intent, my review concludes that the federal correctional system perpetuates conditions of disadvantage for Aboriginal people in Canada,” investigator Howard Saper said in a release.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the government has taken steps to ensure assistance is available to everyone in the criminal justice system.

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But that is not the issue. The report underlines the dangers of the hardscrabble aboriginal situation. They face major problems. The question is whether there is an aboriginal-centric solution that could address the root of the problem more effectively. We should give the idea a fair shake before dismissing it outright.

More than 20 years ago, Parliament passed the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, which allowed Correctional Services to lean on aboriginal community involvement to address crime.

A system of healing lodges was built across the country, where aboriginal offenders serving federal sentences receive teachings, participate in ceremonies and converse with community elders.

But Saper says the government has failed to fully embrace that program, with only 68 beds being available in four healing lodges across the country. This, despite the fact that hundreds have expressed interest in the program over the years.

The Globe and Mail further reports:

There are also no lodges in Ontario, British Columbia, Atlantic Canada or the Territories. Those are large, key swaths of Canada where the program is simply not accessible.

The report also found that:

• There is limited understanding about the aboriginal approach to healing within fedral corrections

• Funding limits the effectiveness work done by community elders inside federal institutions

• Penitentiary-based interventions far exceed community reintegration options.

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Some believe Canada’s aboriginal school system, in which children scooped from their homes and cultures and forced to integrate into Canadian society, as a prime factor in the issues now facing First Nations community. If that is truly the case and if the government is committed to making things right, perhaps a reinvestment in the healing lodge system has value.

After all, the charge isn't that aboriginals are punished more harshly or unfairly by the criminal justice system, only that they run afoul of it more frequently and don’t seem to benefit from the experience. The question is not about punishment. The question is about crime, and the social factors that are associated with it.

The questions aren't new and the report, while damning, isn't a surprise. What would be a surprise is if we finally found a way to address the problem at its core.