Aboriginal People- Canada Injustice
Topic: Why Aboriginal People Are Over-Represented in Canada’s Criminal Justice System
NB: This is a Student Submitted Sample:
Aboriginal people constitute about 13% of the Ontario population yet they account for over half of the 1700 people confined in the correlational organizations. The fact that the convicts of the prisons both as victims and offenders comprise of people from a single ethnic group becomes overwhelming. It is not ethical to think that their cultural beliefs predispose them to recurrent criminal practices but rather the causes of such a scenario are caused by social inequality and discrimination consigning them to the Ontario society’s margins. Racism and social discrimination is a vice which exists throughout Ontario and the entire Canadian society and it is clear that blatant racism is present in the administration of the justice. When this is discovered, it should be abolished since it may lead to more damage. The various causes of this social vice are discussed in this context.
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Aboriginal people have cultural values that differ substantially from those of the dominant society which makes them be discriminated in the justice system. The justice system assumes that all the Canadians share common values and beliefs while the truth is different. The crime rates are higher in the aboriginal communities than in other areas (Chan & Chunn, 2014). This is because of the challenges in defining crime and different societies view crime in a different perspective. For instance, the Canadian law prohibits hunting and fishing without licenses while the aboriginals continue exercising their rights to such practices (Roberts & Reid, 2017). This predisposes them at a risk of being prosecuted for violating the provincial and federal laws. Thus, while their cultural values allow them some practices, they may be unlawful hence posing them to be prosecuted. Aboriginal People- Canada Injustice
Systematic discrimination against the aboriginals is another problem. This contributes to arresting the aboriginals for even minor crimes which the non-aboriginals would just be let free while the former is made to face the law. The dealings of the aboriginals and non-aboriginals in the justice system are totally different. This means that the aboriginals are faced with tough rules than the non-aboriginals who receive favors while handling similar cases. For instance, it is clear that the aboriginals accused tend to be charged with manifold transgressions and spend much time in pre-trial confinement than the non-aboriginals (Reasons et al, 2016). The lawyers do not spend sufficient time with the aboriginals as they would spend with the non-aboriginals. This renders the aboriginals to become guilty even when the case seems to provide the opposite results simply for lack of committed lawyers to handle their cases.
Social inequality is another vice whereby the Canadian government oppresses the aboriginals in the sense that they are stalled from accomplishing what the non-aboriginals are able to accomplish. In other words, the government does not give them equal opportunities as the non-aboriginals to participate in the economic sectors. This makes the aboriginals to strive by force to grab what they are denied hence rendering them to the violation of the laws. As the aboriginals fight for their rights to freedom and property, they may end up using force which is against the law hence becoming criminals (Reid, 2017).
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The rate of crime is higher in aboriginal society than in non-aboriginal due to the over-policing and racial discrimination violating the rights of the aboriginals and leaving them to suffer under Canada’s justice system. Racial discrimination and social inequality contribute a lot to having such a scenario in the Canada society.
References
Chan, W., & Chunn, D. E. (2014). Racialization, crime, and criminal justice in Canada.
Reasons, C., Bige, M., Paras, C., & Arora, S. (2016). Race and criminal justice in Canada. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 11(2), 75.
Reid, B. T. (2017). Over-represented but not understood: sentencing provisions as an inadequate response to the over incarceration of Aboriginal peoples in Nova Scotia.
Roberts, J. V., & Reid, A. A. (2017). Aboriginal incarceration in Canada since 1978: Every picture tells the same story. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 59(3), 313-345.