In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Gladue described the over-incarceration of Indigenous peoples as a “crisis” and a “staggering injustice.” More than two decades later, that crisis has only deepened. According to the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the proportion of Indigenous people in federal prisons has continued to rise, with particularly alarming numbers for Indigenous women, who now account for roughly half of all women in Canadian penitentiaries despite representing only 4.9% of Canada’s total female population.
As early as the 1996 Arbour Report, it was recognized that federally sentenced Indigenous women have distinct needs requiring responses beyond incarceration. Yet these recommendations have not translated into lasting systemic change. The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls makes clear that addressing over-incarceration is not merely a policy choice—it is a legal obligation tied to dismantling what Canadian Senator Kim Pate in her inaugural speech called a “racist and sexist legacy of colonization.”
More than a decade after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada committed governments to eliminating this over-representation in 2015, that promise remains unmet. In this episode, hosts Neha Wankhede and Garyn Rickwood speak with Senator Pate about why this crisis persists, and what meaningful reform could look like.
“…in law school we’re taught that the law applies equally to everyone. You just have to walk into a prison or a courtroom [to] see that’s not true” [Senator Kim Pate, 2026]
Neha Wankhede and Garyn Rickwood – Producers, Hosts, and Editors
This episode contains discussion of incarceration, colonial violence, systemic discrimination, and solitary confinement. Some listeners may find these topics distressing. Please take care while listening.
We acknowledge our privilege to live and learn on the traditional, unceded territory of the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people.
Pro Bono Radio is part of the Queen’s chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada. The Pro Bono Radio team are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice.
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Research Referred to in the Podcast:
Bill S-205 (Tona’s Law), An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, 45th Parl, 1st Sess, Vol 154, No 1 (26 May 2025), https://senpate.sencanada.ca/en/current-work/segregation/.
Bill S-206, An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income, 45th Parl, 1st Sess, Vol 154, No 6 (4 June 2025), https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/pate-kim/interventions/665291/30.
Canada, Debates of the Senate, 42nd Parl, 1st Sess, Vol 150, No 85 (8 December 2016), https://sencanada.ca/en/speeches/speech-by-senator-kim-pate-on-the-over-representation-of-indig enous-women-in-canadian-prisons/.
Corrections and Conditional Release Act, SC 1992, c 20 at ss 29, 31-33, 81, 84.
Department of Justice via the Law Commission of Canada and/or the Miscarriages of Justice Commission, Injustices and Miscarriages of Justice Experienced by 12 Indigenous Women (October 2022), https://sencanada.ca/media/joph5la2/en_report_injustices-and-miscarriages-of-justice-experience d-by-12-indigenous-women_may-16-2022.pdf.
Government of Canada, “Advancing Reconciliation & Gender Equality” (modified 15 September 2025), https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/indigenous-peoples-gender-equality/advancing-reconciliation-gender-equality.html.
Government of Canada, “Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview: 2019 Annual Report” (2019) at p 29, https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ccrso-2019/ccrso-2019-en.pdf.
Government of Canada, “The Daily: Overrepresentation of Indigenous and Black Adults in Provincial and Federal Custody,” (14 January 2026), https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260114/dq260114b-eng.htm.
K. Pate, “Bill C-83 could worsen the rights situation for people in prison: Senator Pate” SenCA+ Magazine (6 June 2019), https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/bill-c-83-could-worsen-the-rights-situation-for-peoplein-prison-senator-pate/.
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) at p 201, https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1a-1.pdf
Office of the Correctional Investigator, “Correctional Investigator Releases Updated Findings on the State of Indigenous Corrections in Canada: National Indigenous Organizations Issue Statements of Support” (2 November 2023), https://oci-bec.gc.ca/en/content/correctional-investigator-releases-updated-findings-state-indigen ous-corrections-canada.
Parliament of Canada, “Senator Kim Pate: Biography,” https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/pate-kim/.
Public Works & Government Services Canada, Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston (Canada) (1996), https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/sgc-sgc/commission_inquiry_prison-e/199681-e.pdf?nodis claimer=1.
R. Murti, “The Sentencing of Indigenous People in Canada: Where We Are Two Decades After Gladue” (2023) 19:1 Indigenous Law Journal at p 17, https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2023CanLIIDocs3497#!fragment//BQCwhgziBcwM YgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoByCgSgBpltTCIBFRQ3AT0otokLC4EbDtyp8BQkAGU8 pAELcASgFEAMioBqAQQByAYRW1SYAEbRS2ONWpA.
R v Gladue, 1999 CanLII 679, 1 SCR 688 [SCC].
R v Sharma, 2022 CanLII 39, 3 SCR 147 [SCC].
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