Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
(image credit: Policy Options magazine, https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/september-2018/what-can-we-learn-from-the-stanley-trial/)
Today we focus our assessment on Indigenous victims of crime. The victimization of Indigenous peoples in Canada began with historical colonial assimilation policy and continues today. The intergenerational trauma resulting from these policies continue to impact Indigenous people today. This trauma underlies much of the continued involvement of Indigenous offenders in the criminal justice system.
The TRC made two specific Calls to Action regarding criminal victimization:
- We call upon the federal government to develop a national plan to collect and publish data on the criminal victimization of Aboriginal people, including data related to homicide and family violence victimization
- We call on all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal people, to create adequately funded and accessible Aboriginal-specific victim programs and services with appropriate evaluation mechanisms.[1]
Call to Action #39
Call to Action #39 recognizes the familiar trend of inadequate data collection specific to Indigenous peoples. This lack of aggregate data is often used as an excuse for underfunding. Government-developed programming and interventions have historically focused on Indigenous peoples as offenders, but Indigenous peoples are overrepresented throughout the justice system meaning, in terms of incarceration and as victims of crime.
Every five years, a survey of criminal victimization (General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization) is undertaken by Statistics Canada to create a report and determine the trends of criminal victimization. The GSS is the main source of national data regarding criminal victimization, with some supplemental data from police and RCMP and special studies like the annual Statistics Canada Homicide Survey. [2]
Several issues have been identified with data collection regarding Indigenous victimization, including:
- A lack of data on the Indigenous experiences of criminal victimization, other than some data on violent crime and spousal violence.[3]
- Between 2003 and 2013, the Indigenous identity of about half of homicide victims in the annual Homicide Survey was reported as unknown. [4]
- Over reliance on the self-reported GSS, which does not document victims’ experiences in the justice system, uses inconsistent definitions of “Aboriginal” and is completed via telephone or internet (since 2014). [5]
Some promising steps have been taken towards Call to Action #39. The 2014 Homicide Survey improved its data collection to include more complete information on Indigenous identity of victims, resulting in a classification of only 3% of victims as “unknown”.[6] The sobering results of the Homicide Survey show that in 2019 Indigenous people (5% of the general population) accounted for 27% of homicide victims.[7] While Canada needs to take serious action to address this tragic disparity, accurate statistics of homicide of Indigenous peoples is the first step to creating a plan.
Further, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and Statistics Canada committed to improve data collection by police and key organizations on crime statistics regarding Indigenous and ethno-cultural groups on July 15, 2020.[8] However, his fairly recent development comes 5 years after the TRC and it remains to be seen whether this data will be collected in a useful form.
Call to Action #40
National and provincial victims services programs provide personal and financial programs for the victims of crime. Call to Action #40 recognizes the need for programming that acknowledges the unique experiences of Indigenous victims of crime. For example, Indigenous victims may lack trust in the criminal justice system due to over 150 years of oppression by a system originally developed to eradicate and assimilate the first peoples of this land.
The use of specialized victims services groups during the MMIWG Inquiry emerged as a positive development towards Call to Action #40, however the focus of these groups on colonial institutions speaks to a need for more comprehensive, Indigenous-led initiatives.[9]
One example of positive change is the National Office for Victims’ (NOV) creation of publications for victims of crime in Indigenous languages, including Innu, Inuktitut, Mi’kmaq, Ojibway, Oji-cree, and Plains Cree.[10] The mandate of the NOV (part of the Federal Department of Public Safety) is to develop information and policy that supports victims of crime.
(image credit: Northern Secwepemc te Qelmucw https://nstq.ca/aboriginal-victim-services-2/)
Final Thoughts
Call to Action #39 and #40 sparked some change, but the momentum needs to continue in the form of program funding and follow-up on the staggering statistics regarding Indigenous victimization. We are assigning the following grades:
- Call to Action #39: B
- Call to Action #40: B-
1Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Ottawa, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015)
2Department of Justice, “Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system” (May 2019) online (pdf): JustFacts <www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/jf-pf/2019/may01.html>.
3Ibid.
4Department of Justice, “Data Sources on Indigenous Victimization” (July 2017) online (pdf): JustFacts <www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/jf-pf/2017/july02.html>
5Ibid (Face-to-face interviews are only done in the Territories)
6Ibid.
7Statistics Canada, “Homicide Statistics in Canada, 2019” (Oct 29,2020) online: <www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2020055-eng.htm>.
8Statistics Canada. “Collection of data on Indigenous and ethno-cultural groups in Canada’s official police-reported crime statistics” (July 15, 2020) online:<www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/about/smr09/smr09_106>.
9Katie Scrim & Naomi Giff-MacKinnon, “Specialized Victim Services for the Families of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: An Overview of Scope, Reach and Impact” (Sep 13, 2018) online: <www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/victim/rd8-rr8/p5.html>.
10 Public Safety Canada, “National Office for Victims” (Nov 20, 2020) online: <www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crrctns/ntnl-ffc-vctms-en.aspx>.
