SASKATCHEWAN WARNS OF RISK TO JUSTICE SYSTEM

More Natives Will Be Jailed, Minister Fears

OTTAWA -- The percentage of aboriginals in Canadian jails is likely
to increase as a result of the federal government's law-and-order
measures introduced yesterday, Saskatchewan's Justice Minister says.

Frank Quennell, the Justice Minister in Saskatchewan's NDP
government, said measures that require minimum jail times and limit
conditional sentences could put at risk the province's unique justice
programs aimed at its large aboriginal population.

Aboriginals now make up nearly one in five admissions to Canadian
correctional services, far exceeding their representation in the
general population of just 3 per cent.

The minister said Saskatchewan, which has the highest percentage of
aboriginal residents in the country, has had some success in
encouraging the use of penalties focused on native traditions of
"restorative justice" rather than prison time.

The programs encourage native communities to find alternatives to
jail, such as providing restitution to the victim of a crime,
volunteering with a charity or attending counselling or addictions programs.

The changes could also prove difficult for Nunavut, which has similar
restorative-justice programs for Inuit offenders, and where jails are
already crowded. Records from the Nunavut Court of Justice show that
in 2005, territorial judges handed down 203 conditional sentences
compared with 189 jail terms.

"I would say that we have probably more conditional sentence orders
than most jurisdictions in Canada," said Bonnie Tulloch, the regional
director for the federal Justice Department, which prosecutes all
crimes in the territory.

Ms. Tulloch acknowledged concerns for public safety, but also listed
several instances where conditional sentences make sense. "The
reality is, for some people, it is more difficult to serve your
sentence in your own community, in your home, under house arrest,
than it is to be flown to Iqaluit to [the Baffin Correctional Centre]
and then to be flown back . . ."

According to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, which are
from the 2003-04 fiscal year, aboriginals accounted for 21 per cent
of admissions to provincial jails and 18 per cent of admissions to
federal prisons. Aboriginal women make up 30 per cent of all female inmates.

Mr. Quennell said the federal government's measures could lead judges
to acquit more people or convict them of lesser offences rather than
see them get lengthy sentences.

Other provinces are welcoming the law-and-order package as long
overdue. Several justice ministers expressed optimism that the strain
on the prisons could be worked out.

In his budget speech on Tuesday, federal Finance Minister Jim
Flaherty said the government is "setting aside funds to expand
Canada's correctional facilities to house the expected increase in
inmates as a result of changes in sentencing rules."

Provincial ministers say they will have to review the details of the
bills to see whether the new laws would have a greater impact on
federal prisons, which house those serving sentences over two years,
or provincial jails, where detainees are serving less than two years.

Quebec's deputy minister of public security, Johanne Vallee, said
Quebec's prisons are already filled to capacity.

"We will need to hold discussions with the federal government," she
said. "Sentencing is a matter that the justice system handles and I'm
sure it will be on the agenda of the federal-provincial justice
ministers meeting in June."

There are currently 70 federal prisons in Canada and 116 provincial jails.

Alberta Solicitor-General Harvey Cenaiko expects the federal Tories'
sentencing proposals will put more pressure on the province's
correctional facilities, but that it "wouldn't have a huge effect."

Mr. Cenaiko predicts that the federal government will pick up most of
the costs because it is responsible for guarding those handed lengthy
sentences.

"We welcome those changes and believe they will have a positive
impact on the justice system in Canada," Nova Scotia Justice Minister
Murray Scott said.