Canada's prisons get failing grades over treatment of aboriginal inmates

A new special report is giving Canada’s prison system a failing grade when it comes to aboriginal inmates.

The report states that the number of incarcerated aboriginal people has gone up almost forty per cent since 2001, the CBC reported.

This information was released on Thursday by the Office of the Correctional Investigator to the House of Commons.

According to the report, federal policies are to blame for what it calls a major overrepresentation of aboriginal people in Canadian prisons.

The report also found that aboriginal inmates receive longer sentences and are less likely to be granted parole.

As it stands, aboriginal peoples make up nearly a quarter of Canada’s prison inmate population, despite only accounting for four per cent of the country’s total population.

Flickr Photo by: Lorenzo Blangiardi

STORY WRITTEN BY: ALYSSA TREMBLAY