Indigenous population of incarcerated women still rising despite calls to action

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The percentage of Indigenous inmates in federal women’s prisons has risen steadily over the last 20 years, hitting about 50 per cent overall and at least 72.3 per cent in Edmonton, the Investigative Journalism Foundation has found.

“With our federal prisons designated for women having 50 per cent of the people incarcerated identifying as Indigenous, that represents to us a problem of mass incarceration,” said Emilie Coyle, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.

“It’s really a continuation of the colonization project that is Canada,” she added.

The inmates are categorized as First Nations, Inuit, Métis or non-Indigenous based on self-identification.

Numerous redactions of figures have been made throughout the document, which means that in many cases it’s not possible to estimate the exact percentage of Indigenous inmates at a particular institution or across Canada.

In some cases, however, there is enough information to calculate minimum percentages of Indigenous women in the prisons.

For example, it’s possible to say that at least 72.3 per cent of women at the Edmonton prison identified as Indigenous last year because figures for First Nations, Metis and non-Indigenous inmates are given, while the number of Inuit women has been redacted.

The same institution had fewer than 50 per cent Indigenous women in the 2002-03 fiscal year.

Indigenous people account for just five per cent of the total population in Canada, according to the 2021 census.

When it released its final report in 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on federal, provincial and territorial governments to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in custody over the next decade.

The situation has only deteriorated since then.

“The overall prison population in Canada is in decline,” said Coyle. “This crisis is founded on the idea of settler colonialism but is also perpetuated by the socio-economic marginalization of Indigenous women and gender diverse people.”

“We have a pattern of over policing but under protecting Indigenous women and gender diverse people.”

Justin Tetrault, a sociology professor at the University of Alberta’s Augustana campus, agreed that the cause of overrepresentation is societal and stems from deep-rooted colonialization.

“We need to really overhaul things and give Indigenous people power over justice and healing,” said Tetrault in an interview. “Punishment is not a good way to respond to harm and crime in society.”

“These people will return to society and we want them to be strong, healthy people. You can’t do that without robust supports and healing opportunities inside and outside of prison.”

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