The blame game can’t strengthen First Nations

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/08/2015 (3179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former provincial court judge Brian Giesbrecht’s column (Male violence on trial, Aug. 25) requires some response. In reference to the assault inflicted on Rinelle Harper last fall, Giesbrecht states “Rinelle is a typical female aboriginal victim of violence in that her alleged attackers were also aboriginal.” The article argues that the main cause of violence against aboriginal women is aboriginal men.

Giesbrecht also blames the victims, aboriginal women, for harms inflicted upon them. “Most of the missing women are vulnerable to predators, such as Robert Pickton, because they live high-risk lives as street prostitutes.”

There is no balance in the article, no mention of the 60 per cent to 95 per cent unemployment rate on First Nations. There is no woman, white or native, who wishes to become sexually exploited or beaten to death.

Pickton killed 49 women in the Vancouver area and he was allowed to, because the women who were being killed weren’t women of value, according to the police, the judicial system and politicians. What does Giesbrecht’s attitude mean for the 92 aboriginal women murdered and missing in Manitoba?

In his experience as a former judge, Giesbrecht states that perpetrators of violence blamed substance abuse or a bad upbringing rather than taking responsibility. Does this statement negate the whole procedure of Gladue reporting (a pre-sentence report that considers the perpetrator’s aboriginal history) as unnecessary and tiresome to the court process?

Giesbrecht’s article points blame at the victims and perpetuates racist stereotypes. Instead of simply blaming the victims, aboriginal people and leaders for the failure to end violence against our women, why not look for real solutions? First Nations have been struggling with unemployment rates three times that of the Great Depression for decades and decades, so yes, depression, anger and violence will occur in any society under tremendous economic pressure. Blaming the victims is not an answer.

The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry report released in 1991 contained the following statement: “We examined the impact of the denial of bail on aboriginal people. Our analysis of data collected in a study done on provincial court cases reveals that aboriginal persons were 1.34 times more likely to be held in pre-trial detention. For aboriginal women aged 18 to 34, the difference was 2.4 times. For adult males between the ages of 18 and 34, aboriginal persons spent 1.5 times longer in pre-trial detention. Overall, we determined that aboriginal detainees had a 21 per cent chance of being granted bail, while non-aboriginal detainees had a 56 per cent chance.”

In 1991, Giesbrecht had already served 15 years on the bench and he would serve another 16 years. Allowing a former judge to write a column is important; hopefully that judge will hear from people who take issue with some of his remarks.

Perhaps, other judges who are still sitting in the courtroom, passing judgment on First Nations people, can take some time to examine their own beliefs and be open to being judged. At the time the AJI was released, 50 per cent of Manitoba inmates were aboriginal, now it is 71 per cent. To simply blame First Nations and not look at the whole picture allows the situation to continue unabated.

First Nations economic self-sufficiency would be good for the province. The public’s reaction to the issue of urban reserves in Winnipeg is a good indication of whether or not Manitoba is ready for change.

Housing an inmate costs $115,000 per year, plus all other costs before and after incarceration. The province spends $546 million for child and family services per year. Eighty-seven per cent of the children in care in the province are First Nation children, but 87 per cent of the money spend on CFS is not spent in First Nation communities.

Telling the chiefs and councils to force aboriginal men to treat women better is not a solution if judges and others are not willing to accept their own responsibility for protecting a system that has not worked for decades and decades. More gangs, more violence; it is a choice. The AJI made that choice perfectly clear 24 years ago.

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.

The cost to the Manitoba economy will continue if we refuse to address the underlying causes.

 

Terrance Nelson is grand chief of the Southern Chiefs Organization.