All the evidence is in place. Following three years of investigation, testimony and research Justices Hamilton and Sinclair a decade ago concluded in The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry Report.

We have investigated the administration of justice in Manitoba and have come to the conclusion that it does not deliver justice to Manitoba's aboriginal people.

In almost every aspect of our legal system, the treatment of Aboriginal people is tragic.

Canada's treatment of its first citizens has been an international disgrace.

To fail to take every needed step to redress this lingering injustice will continue to bring tragedy and suffering to Aboriginal people, and to blacken our country's name throughout the world.

First Nations never embarrassed the government of Manitoba with the evidence of the Manitoba Aboriginal Inquiry Report in the international arena. There was no concerted effort to "blacken" the country's name throughout the world.

This past spring, Supreme Court of Canada Justices were so embarrassed by the 1996 Statistics Canada report they took an unprecedented step of flying to Winnipeg and speaking out publicly against injustice suffered by Aboriginal people in Manitoba.  They urged Manitoba judges to find alternatives to sending aboriginal people to jail.

Justice in Manitoba

There is only one federal Criminal Code in Canada but jail sentences are vastly different throughout various provinces and territories of Canada. The average (including Manitoba statistics) jail sentence of those convicted of criminal activity in Canada is 43 days. The national average would be much lower without Manitoba's statistics included.

Canada is among the top three western countries in the world in the use of incarceration, 130 prisoners per 100,000 population.  In Stony Mountain Federal Institution alone, there are currently 265 First Nation inmates. Based on the national average of 130 prisoners per 100,000 population, First Nation population should be over two hundred thousand people just for those in First Nation inmates in Stony Mountain. In Manitoba we are well above the national average.

Manitoba judges hand out the longest jail terms in Canada.  The average length of jail time in Manitoba is 115 days.  If the province of Manitoba were a country it would lead the world in incarcerating its citizens. By comparison other western provinces had lower jail sentences, Saskatchewan 100 days, British Colombia 54 days and Alberta 30 days. Although the sentences are vastly different judges must use the same laws and the same standards for jail time as set out in the national Criminal Code of Canada.

First Nation people in Manitoba account for 11.8% of the provincial population but 61% of the inmates in jail in Manitoba are First Nation people.  A First Nation male is 25 times more likely to be sent to jail than a non-First Nation male.  A First Nation female is 131 times more likely than a non-First Nation female to be sent to jail.  Unfortunately none of this information should be surprising because it is not new. 

Among the findings of the Manitoba Aboriginal Justice Inquiry report released a decade ago: "Aboriginal detainees have a 21% chance of being granted bail, while non aboriginal detainees have a 56% chance".  Incarceration rates in Manitoba have rarely been higher, recent count 1,187 inmates. The inmate count was so high that the province of Manitoba had to ask the federal correction services to house provincial inmates in Stony Mountain Institution, a federal penitentiary.  

Given that there is only one federal Criminal Code, the guidelines for sentencing should be fairly consistent throughout Canada. If the sentences in criminal court cases are so vastly different imagine the state of affairs in Treaty rights cases.

In the Supreme Court of Canada Van der peet decision the Justices set out a 10 point test to determine if an aboriginal or treaty right can be protected under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. The gist of the test is that right must be an "integral" part of the culture in order to be protected under section 35.

In Delgamuukw, the Supreme Court recognized aboriginal title but denied First Nations the right to use court injunctions to enforce quicker settlements because it may cause "economic hardship" for non-aboriginal people.  Given the number of years (the average court time) it takes for an aboriginal or treaty right to get protected under section 35; First Nations must ask the courts not to discriminate.  If the non-aboriginal people's economic well being is taken into consideration by the courts it is discriminatory for the courts not to give the same protection to the First Nation peoples economic well being.

The Assembly of Manitoba can under the Abuse of Process examine the court process as it relates to First Nations.  If the judges across the country are inconsistent in handing down sentences using the same Criminal Code of Canada then they will also be inconsistent in using the test in Van der peet.

By using the research information in The Shocking Truth about Indians in Textbooks, the AMC can examine what judges were taught in public schools about Indians. It can challenge the racist information taught to judges by public schools.  It can challenge the conclusions on First Nation case law for the last few decades.

For example the courts believe the Canadian version of Treaty making. Canada contends that the First Nation people gave up 100% of the land. They ceded everything to the Crown and the Crown gave back land to the First Nations.  This is the basis of applying Canadian law to First Nation people.

The First Nation people however contend that they reserved land for themselves which Canada recognized as unceded, unsurrendered, unrelinquished, reserved sovereign territory where only certain Canadian law could apply, i.e. murder, rape, grand thief, alcohol. The AMC must challenge the concept held by judges.