Black Canadians are being jailed at a faster pace than aboriginals in federal prisons — a 69% increase over the past 10 years, the highest rate of any ethnic group in Canada — according to figures from Canada’s prison watchdog.
Despite that, there appears to be no national outcry over the plight of blacks in prison compared to the over-representation of aboriginals in federal institutions.
Why is that?
Canada’s Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers released a report last week that showed the number of aboriginals incarcerated in federal prison has jumped 37% over the past 10 years.
While aboriginals make up only 4% of Canada’s population, they represent 21.5% of those serving time in federal prisons, the report said.
Native groups, civil liberty organizations and opposition MPs seized on the report to attack the Harper government, accusing the Tories of perpetuating what they says is a “discriminatory” prison system.
Despite that, there’s been very little public attention paid to the skyrocketing increase in the number of black Canadians sent to federal prisons.
In 2000-01, there were 766 black inmates in federal prisons. That number jumped to 1,294 by 2010-11, according to Sapers’ 2011-12 annual report.
That’s a 69% increase over 10 years.
Black people make up about 2.5% of Canada’s population. Yet they now represent just over 9% of the federal inmate population, the report says. The majority of black inmates are incarcerated in Ontario — 60% — followed by Quebec at 18%.
Which means per capita, they’re not far behind aboriginals when it comes to over-representation in federal prisons.
The only difference is Sapers’ office has given aboriginal inmates disproportionate attention, claiming their high rates of incarceration are “linked to systemic discrimination and attitudes based on racial or cultural prejudice.”
What about black inmates? Is their over-representation linked to systemic discrimination, too? And if so, where is the public outcry over it?
Sapers acknowledged in December 2011 that black Canadians were over-represented in federal prisons. He was quoted as saying there’s not much he could do about it, adding his job was to ensure that once offenders do come into the system that they’re treated fairly and humanely.
Not so for aboriginal inmates, though. Sapers has criticized Correctional Services of Canada for what he described as a failure on their part to take steps to reduce the high rates of aboriginal inmates.
Bit of a double standard, no?
In his 2011-12 annual report, Sapers wrote his office was planning to review the high rates of black inmates in federal prisons, including “barriers which may lead to differential correctional outcomes for black offenders.” The office was supposed to report its findings in the fiscal year 2012-13, but so far there’s still no report.
Ivan Zinger, executive director of the Office of the Correctional Investigator, told the Winnipeg Sun the investigation is still ongoing. However, the probe may not be a stand-alone report like the aboriginal one. Instead, it may just be rolled into his 2012-13 annual report, said Sapers.
So why does the aboriginal inmate issue get so much more political attention than the over-representation of black inmates?
It’s pretty obvious. It’s far more politically fashionable to take up the cause of aboriginal offenders in this country than it is to advocate for black inmates.
And that’s the problem when our justice system and its critics focus on race when setting and debating public policy. They start picking winners and losers based on ethnicity, rather than focusing on the offenders themselves.
If the over-representation of black inmates got the same treatment as aboriginals, there would be royal commissions, commissions of inquiry and landmark Supreme Court of Canada decisions — including Gladue reports for black offenders — all designed to ameliorate the conditions of black Canadians who find themselves at odds with the law.
I can tell you right now, that ain’t gonna happen.