What We Learned – Wave 2

Background

Indigenous Justice Strategy Overview

In January 2021, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada was mandated with developing, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous partners, provinces, and territories, an Indigenous Justice Strategy (IJS) to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system.

Addressing these issues is consistent with the principles regarding the Government of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous people, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the UN Declaration), the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ (MMIWG) Final Report and Calls for Justice, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action (TRC-CTAs). The Ministers of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Indigenous Services Canada and Public Safety Canada have also been mandated to support this work.

In the spirit of reconciliation, and out of respect for Indigenous rights to self-determination, Justice Canada recognizes that the development of an IJS must be informed by the voices and experiences of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. Justice Canada further recognizes the need to consider distinctions between First Nations, Inuit across Inuit Nunangat, and Métis, going forward in relation to the IJS. Development of the IJS is being informed by two streams of engagement: 1) Indigenous-led engagement undertaken by communities and organizations with funding from Justice Canada; and 2) Justice Canada-led engagement.

This report provides an overview of the Justice Canada-led engagement that took place between April and December of 2023.

Wave 1

Starting in November 2022, Justice Canada began consulting and cooperating with First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners to gather input, ideas, and recommendations to inform the development of an Indigenous Justice Strategy.

Wave 1 of Justice Canada’s engagement process included the development and implementation of twenty-six regional and distinctions-based (First Nation, Inuit, Métis) dialogue sessions with more than 700 indigenous partners including youth, urban and 2SLGBTQI+, stakeholders, justice practitioners, provincial and territorial representatives, and other federal government departments, as well as online engagement activities to inform the development of the IJS. Wave 1 engagement ended in March 2023 and a What We Learned report was released in August 2023 on the Justice Canada website.

One of the key learnings from Wave 1 was that more in-depth discussions were needed between Indigenous people, community-based practitioners and government policy makers in each province and territory.

Wave 2

Wave 2 engagement was launched in early Spring 2023 and concluded in December 2023. Regional in-person dialogues took place in each province and territory (except in Northwest Territories due to a fire crisis at the time of planning). The focus of Wave 2 engagements was to identify regional priorities for action by bringing First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and provincial and territorial governments together in conversation. These sessions were designed as small gatherings to elicit concrete recommendations for actionable changes informed by the regional needs and lived experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people and justice system professionals. As in Wave 1, discussions followed two overarching themes:

  1. Supporting Indigenous justice systems
  2. Making substantive changes to the existing Canadian justice system

To allow for broader participation, each region also offered virtual sessions that provided additional opportunities for input. More than 500 individuals participated in this wave of engagement representing regional stakeholders, government and territorial officials and Indigenous communities, nations and organizations.

While the conversations that took place during Wave 2 were not distinctions-based as was done in Wave 1, it is understood that First Nation, Inuit and Métis people and communities experience the justice system differently and face different barriers which were highlighted during the regional conversations. Urban Indigenous people, youth, women, 2SLGBTQI+ Indigenous people and Elders also took part in conversations and shared their unique experiences and voices to inform this report.

People with Lived Experience

Participants in Wave 1 identified people with lived experience within the justice system as an integral group to include in discussions. To address this, the People with Lived Experience (PWLE) stream of engagement was added to Wave 2. A separate What We Learned report on the PWLE engagement process is available on Justice Canada’s website.