The crime rate in both Saskatoon and Regina is WAY above all major cities. This (do some research) has been spiralling upwards in the last 4 years due to an increase in crimes ,mostly petty, committed by natives in the downtown cores. Hold off on the knee-jerk cries of racism.It is a fact. The government decided that natives were not being treated fairly in the "white" justice system. So they decided on alternative sentencing which was ,except for serious crimes,designed to HEAL rather than punish.What a mess. Take away any deterrent to crime and it will flourish.There may be 200 or 300 people who do not commit crimes,good for them, but take a walk through the core of Regina or Saskatoon and your eyes will be opened.
I am a Native man from Cree territory (Saskatchewan), and I am very upset with the fact that the non-native communites are always judging my people. I was raised on the streets and I have seen what goes on there. I am proud to be native and that is not to say that i embrace crime because of my native ancestry, but I have been discriminated against becuase of it. People commit crimes, not becuase they want to, but sometimes becuase they have to for survival. I am not advocating that Native people go out and commit crimes. I am, however, saying that there are serious issues that need to be addressed and not just in the native communities. There is lots of dysfunction in native communties, but it's not like that for nothing. The Canadian justice system was built with racist intentions. If you know anything about native history which is, in essence, colonization, you would clearly see that the governemnt of Canada and the settler society (i.e. Canadians) have been extremely racist to indigenous peoples from all over Turtle Island (the new world). Having said that, the " white system" that you speak of has, in fact, been systemically performing racial profiling among natives and against any other minorities in Canada.
The over-representation of Aboriginal peoples is just something that exemplifies this racist mentality. When the colonizers first arrived on our shores, they brought many things with them and one of them was a their justice system. The law and rules that were imposed on natives were extremely unjust and oppressive. Of course, they have always favored the colonizers. This justice system has never respect native law and demanded respect from the colonized.
I would love to create a jail system that is founded on Native law and then put Canada on trial for all the crimes that have been commited against my people.
I understand that some laws were created to keep Canada safe and without them, this would be a lawless country, however, the justice system does not always guarantee protection for native peoples from the government or its peace officers. look into the deaths of Neil Stonechild and Lawrence Wagner, they were murdered by the Saskatoon city police. The police have always had it out for Indians. Essentially, they are modern day Indian fighters.
I can talk about injustices in the native communites until i am blue in the face, but it will not prove anything. If you really want to know the truth about aboriginal social issues, enroll in a basic native studies course. I cannot stress it enough. I don't mind if you're just uneducated about these types of issues, but what makes me mad is when people make judgements when they no nothing about it.
ekosi,