Lack of resources to blame for high detention rates of Inuit in Quebec: advocates

Disproportionate detention rates for Inuit in Quebec is a growing problem that lacks necessary support, advocates say.

Inuit are 15 times more likely to be jailed in Quebec than the provincial average. It’s twice as high as that of any other Indigenous group in the province.

That’s according to new provincial data that show Inuit accounted for 2.45 per cent of provincial detainees from March 2021 to March 2022, despite only representing 0.16 per cent of the Quebec population.

It’s a critical issue says the Makivik Corporation, which represents Inuit in negotiations with various levels of government.

“It’s lack of resource and lack of guidance within the communities, but unfortunately, substance abuse is a serious issue,” said Joey Partridge, the interim director and liaison coordinator of Makivik Reaching Home—Urban Inuit. “And that leads to a lot of violence. Hoping that if this could be looked at differently, it would probably diminish a lot of incarcerations within communities.

“All the leaders and all the representatives within the North understand that this is a serious issue, that this really needs to be looked at.

“To make sure that we are giving the right resources so that this can stop continuing to be a problematic issue within the communities.”

The provincial data found that 617 Inuit people were admitted to a Quebec jail in a year, which is about 4.5 per cent of the 13,613 Inuit living in the province.

“Lack of housing is one of the main issues that we face in the North,” said Partridge. “That leads to one of the biggest troubles and problems that we face when people are struggling to overcome the problems that they face every day.”

“Offenders have often been victims themselves,” added David Boudreau, a legal aid lawyer who has been working in the province’s North for more than five years. “So that lack of support and lack of help in order to address those traumas get through it are often leading to them repeating whether they have been a victim of, and therefore leading to their incarceration.”

Inuit are jailed sometimes thousands of kilometrws from their homes, along with the health network that can help them upon release.

“The Correctional Services have partnerships with different organisms in order for the offender to be allowed to address those underlying causes of criminality,” said Boudreau. “Those services are just not being offered in Nunavik. Those partnerships do not exist. So when an offender is being released, there’s a clear lack of support within the community for that person to get the help he needs in order to prevent recidivism.

“This is outraging, because most offenders are good and fit candidates for a rehabilitation process.”

CityNews reached out to Quebec’s Public Security Minister for a comment but did not immediately hear back.

—With files from The Canadian Press