Here is an exerpt from a report I found here:
http://www.nupge.ca/news_2006/n18oc06a.htm

‘Systemic discrimination’ against native prison inmates

‘Aboriginal people are routinely disadvantaged once they are placed into the custody of the correctional service.’ – Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers

Ottawa (18 Oct. 2006) – Canada’s national ombudsman for federal prison inmates says Canada is guilty of “systemic discrimination” against aboriginal offenders.

The number of aboriginals in prison climbed 22% between 1996 and 2004, while the general population dropped 12%, Howard Sapers, the country’s federal correctional investigator, said this week in his annual report to Parliament.

For women native prisoners, the numbers were even more dramatic, rising 74% over the same period. Among all prisoners, aboriginals now account for 18.5% of federal inmates, but only 2.7% of the Canadian population.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, the minister responsible for the prison system, was quick to criticize the report after it was made public.

’’I visited personally a number of federal institutions and have spent time with aboriginals themselves individually and in groups in the institutions,’’ he told MPs in the Commons. ’’I am confident in the professionalism of the people who work for Corrections Canada.’‘

I’m so sad for the way we have treated people. It amazes me that this is such a reality – that and all of the other issues plaguing aboriginal peoples globally.