Indigenous coalition takes Canada’s incarceration crisis to United Nations forum

NEW YORK — A coalition of Indigenous governments, organizations and legal advocates is using the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to call international attention to what it describes as Canada’s continuing mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples.

The coalition, which includes the Assembly of First Nations, BC First Nations Justice Council, Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, Prince Albert Grand Council, Union of BC Indian Chiefs and Prisoners’ Legal Services, is urging Canada to shift funding and authority away from the federal prison system and toward Indigenous-led justice, healing and community safety programs.

Coalition calls for $1 billion a year to Indigenous-led justice

The groups are calling on Canada to redirect one-third of Correctional Service Canada’s approximately $3-billion annual budget — about $1 billion a year — to Indigenous governments and organizations.

They argue that Canada cannot meet its obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples while Indigenous people remain vastly overrepresented in federal prisons.

Indigenous adults represented 33 per cent of admissions to federal custody in 2022-23, while Indigenous women accounted for 49 per cent of female admissions, according to Justice Canada. The Office of the Correctional Investigator has also warned that Indigenous women now account for half of all women in Canadian federal penitentiaries.

AFN says justice system remains rooted in systemic discrimination

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse-Nepinak said the issue is not new and has been documented repeatedly.

“There is no justice for First Nations in Canada’s so-called justice system,” Woodhouse-Nepinak said. “First Nations are massively over-policed and over-incarcerated as a result of systemic discrimination.”

She said the problem is connected to child welfare, policing, courts and corrections.

“The so-called child welfare system is a pipeline that funnels our children into conflict with the law and often places their welfare at risk,” Woodhouse-Nepinak said. “Governments at all levels in Canada must follow the lead of First Nations to restore our ways of justice, healing, and reconciliation.”

BC justice council says the solutions already exist

Kory Wilson, chair of the BC First Nations Justice Council, said Indigenous-led justice programs are already showing results, but need stable funding and authority.

“The issue is not a lack of solutions; it is a lack of sustained investment and authority in Indigenous-led solutions,” Wilson said.

She said Canada must invest in Indigenous governments and organizations if it is serious about reducing overrepresentation.

“If Canada is serious about ending the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in the Criminal Justice System, it must invest in and scale what is already working, and support Indigenous governments to lead,” Wilson said.

Prince Albert Grand Council points to solitary confinement concerns

Prince Albert Grand Council Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte said Canada has promised reform for decades, while the numbers have continued to worsen.

“This is systemic racism rooted in colonialism, not individual failure,” Hardlotte said.

He pointed to the case of Joey Toutsaint, a member of Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, who the coalition says was held for more than 3,000 days in intermittent solitary confinement in violation of the UN Nelson Mandela Rules.

“These conditions are driving disproportionate rates of self-harm and suicide and constitute a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples,” Hardlotte said.

Canada formally replaced administrative segregation with structured intervention units in 2019, but oversight reports and media investigations have continued to raise concerns about isolation, mental health and the disproportionate use of restrictive conditions for Indigenous and Black prisoners.

Existing legal tools are rarely used, advocates say

The coalition says legal provisions that could allow Indigenous people to serve sentences in Indigenous communities are underfunded and rarely used.

Under section 81 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, Correctional Service Canada says an offender can be transferred to the care and custody of an Indigenous governing body or organization, with consent from the offender and the Indigenous authority. CSC says section 84 is intended to support release planning with Indigenous communities.

The coalition’s argument is that those tools cannot work as intended without real money, jurisdiction and decision-making authority being transferred to Indigenous governments and organizations.

UBCIC calls incarceration a continuation of colonial violence

Katisha Paul, women’s representative for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said Canada’s incarceration rates reflect deeper systemic failures.

“The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is calling out Canada’s mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples as a continuation of colonial violence,” Paul said.

She said real solutions must include “the transfer of resources, jurisdiction, and authority to First Nations governments to lead restorative justice and healing in our territories with our own Nation-based, specific approaches.”

Why this matters in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario

For Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, the issue is immediate. Courts, police, correctional facilities, bail systems and probation services affect families across the region, including people from remote and road-access First Nations who may be held or processed far from home.

The coalition’s call for Indigenous-led justice connects directly to long-standing regional concerns about access to legal support, culturally appropriate healing, bail options, housing, treatment, transportation and the ability of First Nations to design justice systems rooted in their own laws and community responsibilities.

The message from the United Nations forum is clear: Indigenous leaders are not asking Canada only for reform inside prisons. They are asking Canada to reduce reliance on prisons by funding Indigenous governments and organizations to lead community-based justice, healing and public safety.