United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - Indigenous governments, organizations and legal aid clinic rebuke Canada for mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples - call for funding and authority to Indigenous governments and organizations

NEW YORK, April 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, a coalition of Indigenous governments and organizations and allies are in New York at the 25^th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to draw international attention to Canada’s increasing mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples. The Assembly of First Nations, BC First Nations Justice Council, Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, Prince Albert Grand Council, Union of BC Indian Chiefs and Prisoners’ Legal Services are urging Canada to end to the mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous people represent 5% of the population in Canada but 33% of people in federal prisons. Half of all women in federal prisons are Indigenous. Indigenous people also spend more of their sentences in custody and are disproportionately exposed to the most punishing and damaging aspects of prison, including solitary confinement, and are over-represented in self-harm injuries and deaths by suicide in prison. Legal provisions that would allow Indigenous people to serve their sentences in Indigenous communities are under-funded and rarely used.

Canada is called on to redirect one third of Correctional Service Canada’s approximately $3 billion annual budget – or $1 billion annually – to Indigenous governments and organizations to decarcerate Indigenous Peoples in a manner consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse-Nepinak states:

There is no justice for First Nations in Canada’s so-called justice system. First Nations are massively over-policed and over-incarcerated as a result of systemic discrimination. This reality has been confirmed by countless Canadian justice inquiries and by UN human rights reports, over decades.

First Nations continue to condemn this systemic discrimination, and insist on effective corrective action. Likewise, the massive apprehension of First Nations children under provincial and territorial child welfare laws is a part of this systemic discrimination as Chief Willie Littlechild has said many times. The so-called child welfare system is a pipeline that funnels our children into conflict with the law and often places their welfare at risk. Governments at all levels in Canada must follow the lead of First Nations to restore our ways of justice, healing, and reconciliation.

BC First Nations Justice Council Chair Hemas Kla-Lee-Lee-Kla, Kory Wilson states:

At the British Columba First Nations Justice Council - we know what works. Our Indigenous-led justice programs are preventing recidivism, supporting healing, and improving safety in communities. We know how to decrease the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the Criminal Justice System and how to move Indigenous people towards self-determination. The issue is not a lack of solutions; it is a lack of sustained investment and authority in Indigenous-led solutions. If Canada is serious about ending the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in the Criminal Justice System, it must invest in and scale what is already working, and support Indigenous governments to lead.

Prince Albert Grand Council Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte states:

For decades, Canada has promised to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in prison, yet today we make up just 5% of the population and one-third of those in federal custody, and half of incarcerated women. This is systemic racism rooted in colonialism, not individual failure. The case of Joey Toutsaint, a member of Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, held for over 3,000 days in intermittent solitary confinement in violation of the UN Nelson Mandela Rules, shows the profound harm this system continues to inflict on Indigenous Peoples. These conditions are driving disproportionate rates of self-harm and suicide and constitute a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples. In accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Canada must work in true partnership with First Nations to support self-determined approaches to justice, community safety, and healing by transferring resources and authority to Indigenous governments. The solution is clear, respect our right to self-determination and end the mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples.

Union of BC Indian Chiefs Women's Representative Katisha Paul states:

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs is calling out Canada’s mass incarceration of Indigenous Peoples as a continuation of colonial violence. From the ground at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, we condemn the overrepresentation of Indigenous women, men, youth, and Two-Spirit relatives in prison as unacceptable and reflective of deep systemic failures. Real solutions require the transfer of resources, jurisdiction, and authority to First Nations governments to lead restorative justice and healing in our territories with our own Nation-based, specific approaches.

For more information, see our information sheet and Prisoners’ Legal Services’ report Decarceration through Self-Determination: Ending the mass incarceration of Indigenous people in Canada.

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