The detention rate of Inuit in Quebec prisons is 15 times higher than the provincial average, according to data from the Quebec Ministry of Public Security.
According to these statistics, approximately 4.5% of Inuit living in Quebec were imprisoned in a provincial place of detention during a one-year period ending on March 31, 2022.
This rate is nearly twice that of all other Aboriginal groups.
David Boudreau, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Bureau who has worked in northern Quebec for more than five years, believes that the high detention rate results from a “scandalous lack of resources”.
He mentioned that programs aimed at preventing crimes or diverting offenders from the justice system are often not available in Nunavik, where the majority of the province’s Inuit live.
Me Boudreau cites in particular the absence of sex education programs or services allowing people to heal from trauma. “It causes the eternal cycle of aggression,” he laments. There are many cases of sexual assault before the courts in Nunavik, but the care programs offered to offenders in southern Quebec are not available to those living in the North, adds the lawyer.
The only help available to residents is often offered by social workers who do not all have the professional skills to deal with these problems. As a result, Inuit convicts will have to serve their sentence in prison rather than under house arrest. Few will receive a suspended sentence.
“Judges are really sensitive to the lack of resources, but it is beyond their power to solve this problem, underlines Mr.e Boudeau. They have to work with what they have. There is a lack of political will to try to put in place programs that would reduce the crime rate. »
The “over-represented” Inuit
Inuit represent less than 0.16% of the Quebec population, but accounted for 2.45% of the prison population in provincial prisons for a one-year period ending March 31, 2022.
They also make up 12.4% of the Aboriginal population in Quebec, but they account for 35% of the Aboriginal prison population in Quebec prisons during the same period, according to federal and provincial data.
Mylène Jaccoud, a professor at the School of Criminology at the University of Montreal, says Inuit are “over-represented” in provincial prisons.
She recalls that the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement signed in 1975 had granted autonomy to the Inuit, but its process of self-determination was less advanced for them than for certain First Nations, such as the Crees, for example. .
“The Cree have taken charge of their administration of justice in a way that the Inuit have not. For me, it’s a big difference”, launches Mme Jaccoud. To illustrate this phenomenon, she points out that the vast majority of Nunavik police officers are not Inuit. In May 2022, the Nunavik Police Service had only 4 Inuit officers out of the 88 it employed. The region’s population is 90% Inuit.
The police force refused to give an interview to The Canadian Press.
Jail in Abitibi
Another problem: there are no prisons in Nunavik. Inmates often have to serve their sentence in Amos, more than 1,000 km from Kuujjuaq, the largest city in the region.
In 2022, a class action was brought against the Quebec government on behalf of Inuit detainees, who number more than 1,500. According to the lawsuit, the rights of Inuit are systematically violated when they are transferred to prisons far removed from their community.
The lawsuit also criticizes the government for a system that prevents detainees from having a bail hearing within the time limits set out in the Criminal Code and results in excessive and unjustified pretrial detentions.
The Makivik Corporation, which represents the Inuit in negotiations with various levels of government, did not call back The Canadian Press, despite our numerous calls. The office of First Nations and Inuit Relations Minister Ian Lafrenière referred the questions to Public Safety Minister Francois Bonnardel, who declined to comment.