Restorative justice program expected to reach 500 people in northern Manitoba First Nations each year

Restorative justice program expected to reach 500 people in northern Manitoba First Nations each year

MKO initiative getting $5M in federal funding 'not a softer approach to justice,' MP says

Up to 500 people in over two dozen northern Manitoba First Nations communities will be able to access a program providing Indigenous-led alternatives to incarceration each year, which is now getting $5 million in federal support.

The funds will go to Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak's Gladue Pathways to Healing Initiative, a project that will help courts consider culturally informed sentencing options that address root causes of justice system involvement, the Liberal government said Thursday.

Program participants will receive individualized plans, case management services and other support, including help connecting with housing, health, addictions counselling and education, a federal news release said.

The program is expected to reach 500 people each year in 26 member communities of MKO, an advocacy organization for northern Manitoba First Nations.

"This is not a softer approach to justice — it is a stronger and more effective one," Rebecca Chartrand, the member of Parliament for the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, said at a Thursday news conference.

"Justice in the north cannot simply be designed in the south and flown into our northern communities," she said. "It must be shaped and led by the people who understand these communities, their strengths and their realities."

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs wants to create First Nations courts to reduce incarceration

First Nations people remain overrepresented in Manitoba's prisons as a result of the continuing effects of colonialism, Chartrand said.

"Those realities do not remove personal responsibility, but if we want people to take responsibility and change the direction of their lives, we must provide a real and meaningful path forward."

Violent offenders won't be part of program

Similar to pre-sentence reports, Gladue reports tell a judge about an Indigenous person's history and the ways they are impacted by colonialism.

"The Gladue principles were established to ensure courts better understand these realities, and we want to consider alternatives that support healing and rehabilitation," Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said at Thursday's news conference.

Settee said MKO will work with sentencing judges to determine the best path forward for each individual case.

"This initiative will help increase access to culturally responsive sentencing options for First Nation people living in our north [and] strengthens community involvement in the justice process."

Violent offenders will not participate in the program, he said.

"We will not be directing those people to this particular process until we know for sure that there's … public safety," he said. "But we will also examine processes where we will work with individuals that have very serious crimes."

Community groups push restorative justice for racialized Winnipeggers

Settee said MKO will consider the demographics of each First Nation and where "the need is most dire" when deciding where the funds will be distributed, he said.

"We have a system. We just have never been properly funded, and each community has always had restorative justice workers with limited funding," he said.

"We can do amazing things now that we have these resources, and we look forward to what we can do next."

Manto Sipi First Nation Chief Michael Yellowback said the program is a first step in the right direction.

"These types of programs could certainly prevent more of our people from being incarcerated," he said at the news conference.

"We do need more from the federal government to ensure public safety and to ensure that our people live in peace and tranquility."