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Figures from the Justice Department paint a dark picture of the state of Indigenous incarceration, with Aboriginal youth seriously overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
Data recently provided by the department to brief Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says Indigenous youth account for only seven per cent of the overall population, but make up 41 per cent of those entering the justice system.
The documents, obtained by The Canadian Press, also say the problem has ballooned over the last decade and point to bias in the policing, justice and corrections systems.
Inflated incarceration rates are, in fact, the product of a tangled web of problems plaguing Indigenous communities, including educational failures and a lack of mental-health resources, said Charlie Angus, the NDP indigenous affairs critic.
"The result is all of Canadian society is paying the price in the outrageous numbers for education rates, spikes in suicide, victims of violence and incarceration," Angus said.
"You can track the results: the lower education outcomes, the higher suicides, the higher victim of violence rates, the outrageous numbers of incarcerated people. It runs ... through the government's denial of services and limiting of opportunities for Indigenous children and youth."
Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers, who has extensively documented challenges for aboriginal offenders inside the federal system, called the figures "atrocious" and said they reflect systemic failures.
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