b'HEALING AND JUSTICEFAIR PLAYIndigenous women and the justice systemfair or unfair play? By Bryan HansenM aneuvering thereoffence. It works to assist IndigenousAnyone who self-identifies as First Nations, complex web of thepeoples at the sentencing stage of criminalInuit or Mtis has Gladue rights and can justice system can becases by detailing unique systemic factors,request a Gladue Report. Gladue rights daunting for anyone,such as intergenerational trauma caused byapply whether you live on- or off-reserve, as especially when the odds have historically beenresidential schools, that may have played awell as in an Indigenous or non-Indigenous stacked against you, which has often been therole in their involvement in a crime needingcommunity.case for Indigenous women. Since 2018, thea Gladue Report. Ontario Native Womens Association has beenThe Canadian Criminal Code s718.2(e) able to provide a hand up in Ontario withThis, in turn, helps with reconciliationstates, all available sanctions, other than the first Indigenous-women-specific Gladueby providing a response to the Truth andimprisonment, that are reasonable in the Program. The ONWA Gladue Program isReconciliation Commission of Canadacircumstances and consistent with the funded through the Ministry of the Attorney(TRC): Calls to Action, specifically 30harm done to victims or to the community General and provides Gladue Report writing,and 31 involving justice, where the TRCshould be considered for all offenders, with Gladue aftercare programming and bail supportis calling on the government to commitparticular attention to the circumstances of and services. to eliminating the overrepresentation ofAboriginal offenders.Aboriginal people in custody.The national Gladue Program was estab-lished in 1999 as a way for the criminalGladue rights stem from the 1999 R. v.ROLE OF COLONIALISMjustice system to reduce the overrepresenta- Gladue Supreme Court decision that recog- Gladue Reports are prepared and submitted tion of the Indigenous population in thenized the need to address Canadas highto the courts for consideration in the correctional system, as well as rates ofrates of incarcerated Indigenous peoples.sentencing process. Judges have a duty to 32Spring/Summer 2022'