Ontario justice system in "crisis" for First Nations and aboriginal people - Iacobucci reports
Justice system in 'crisis' for Ontario First Nations
Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press - Feb. 26, 2013
TORONTO -- Ontario's First Nations face a justice and jury system in a state of crisis that requires urgent action, former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci reported Tuesday.
In a strong indictment of the current setup, Iacobucci warned the issue threatens relations between aboriginals and non-aboriginals.
"There is not only the problem of a lack of representation of First Nations peoples on juries that is of serious proportion," his report states.
"It is also regrettably the fact that the justice system generally as applied to First Nations peoples, particularly in the north, is quite frankly in a crisis."
In August 2011, the Ontario government asked the former justice to investigate after inquests and criminal trials ground to a halt over the lack of on-reserve aboriginals on juries.
In his research, Iacobucci said he found a state of conflict between the justice system and the ideologies and approach of First Nations peoples.
Aboriginals experience "systemic discrimination" when it comes to criminal justice or child services and the courts, he said.
The jurist acknowledged his mandate did not extend to delving into the larger justice system or aboriginal socio-economic conditions, but said it would be folly to ignore the backdrop.
While aboriginals are over-represented in prisons, their under-representation on juries extends to every facet of the justice system that has alienated First Nations, he said.
"Access to justice, the administration of justice, the availability and quality of legal services, the treatment of First Nations peoples in the justice system all are wanting in northern Ontario," Iacobucci said in Thunder Bay, Ont.
In all, Iacobucci's report makes 17 recommendations he says are aimed at ensuring the cultural values, traditional laws and ideologies of First Nations are better reflected in the justice system.
They include:
- Setting up a group to advise the attorney general on First Nations and justice issues;
- Giving cultural training to officials in the justice system in contact with aboriginals;
- Looking at using existing databases, such as health records, for finding on-reserve residents for jury rolls;
- Allowing reserve residents to volunteer for jury duty.
Iacobucci called his recommendations straightforward and inexpensive to implement.
"Doing nothing will be a profound shame especially when there has been a greater recognition throughout Canada of the tragic history of aboriginal people."
Iacobucci said First Nations want more control of community justice issues, and want to be involved in improving their representation on juries.
Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen said the government planned to act quickly.
"We will form an implementation committee that includes representatives from the First Nations community and from various government ministries," Gerretsen said.
He also said he would set up the recommended advisory group.
First Nations leaders called the report an important first step in dealing with a long festering issue.
"Justice Iacobucci has told the truth about how the justice system treats First Nations people," said Alvin Fiddler, deputy grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
"He has called on the Ontario government to move urgently, and we agree with this assessment."
Among other things, Iacobucci's report finds on-reserve residents make up one-third of people in the district of Kenora, but typically comprise under 10 per cent of the jury roll.
Similarly, on-reserve residents account for about five per cent of the population in the Thunder Bay area but make up only 1.3 per cent of jury roll.
Many aboriginals are "plainly reluctant" to participate in juries because of larger conflicts with the justice system, Iacobucci said.
Even the wording of the jury questionnaire, he noted, is seen by First Nations as coercive and threatening.
The province, which argues it has made best efforts at inclusiveness, needs to look beyond doing the bare minimum to ensure aboriginal representation on juries, he said.
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Justice for Ontario first nations people 'in crisis,' Iacobucci reports
JOE FRIESEN - Feb. 27 2013In the area around Kenora, Ont., fewer than 10 per cent of potential jurors are natives living on reserve, even though they make up roughly 35 per cent of the population. The figure for the district around Thunder Bay is similarly disproportionate.
Overrepresented in prison and underrepresented on juries, the situation facing aboriginal people in Northern Ontario represents a crisis in Ontario's justice system, according to a major report issued by retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci Tuesday.
"Access to justice, the administration of justice, the availability and quality of legal services, the treatment of first nations peoples in the justice system all are wanting," Mr. Iacobucci said. "What has become abundantly clear to me is that the justice system as it relates to first nations is currently in a crisis, particularly in Northern Ontario."
Mr. Iacobucci was asked by the provincial government in 2011 to look into the lack of first nations representation on jury rolls. But the issues facing aboriginals in the justice system go well beyond jury representation and it would be foolish to think they're not connected, he concluded.
Mr. Iacobucci said the word "crisis" is not normally in his vocabulary, but in this case he believes the issues he has raised require urgent attention. He made 17 recommendations, including that an implementation committee be struck to follow up on his report and that a first nations advisory committee to the attorney-general be created. He also recommended that Ontario immediately look into the possibility of using data from the ministries of health or transport, rather than municipal property assessment rolls, to establish the lists of potential jurors.
Attorney-General John Gerretsen said he welcomed the report and would act immediately to create the implementation and advisory committees.
"It will take a lot of work. But we want to make sure that juries in the future, particularly in Northern Ontario, but throughout Ontario, have on their rolls aboriginal representation," Mr. Gerretsen said.
Mr. Iacobucci's report was commissioned after coroner's inquests into the deaths of aboriginal teens were stopped due to a lack of aboriginal jurors.
He said although his original assignment was relatively narrow, it was impossible to tackle without dealing with many other issues as well.
Although he didn't go so far as to call into question the fairness of the justice system, he did say there are clearly problems, particularly with the quality of legal representation afforded some First Nations accused of crimes. He heard of many instances where people pleaded guilty to crimes that resulted in a criminal record merely to get the issue over with, he said.
"I'm not saying that means no one is getting a fair trial but I do think that there are people that are not getting what we would call a fair shake," Mr. Iacobucci said.
There is also a historical legacy of mistrust that needs to be overcome for first nations people to come forward to participate in the jury system. Many first nations people view the system as "working against them, rather than for them," he wrote, so that to participate in the delivery of the system is seen as an affront.
Alvin Fiddler, deputy grand chief of the Northern Ontario Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said Mr. Iacobucci's report should be a wake-up call. "He has spoken in very blunt terms about what is wrong with the justice systems. He has not pulled any punches. He has reported on systemic discrimination in policing, in the prisons and in the poor quality of legal representation that makes guilty pleas and convictions almost automatic."
With a report from Adrian Morrow
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