Trudeau Liberals to lower Indigenous incarceration rate by 'removing mandatory jail time for violent criminals'

The Trudeau Liberals are looking to push legislation that aims to reverse Canada's high rate of Indigenous incarceration in order to address racial inequities.

Justice Minister David Lametti told The Globe and Mail that the "magnitude of the problem is tragic," adding that he expects Indigenous incarceration rates to drop once Canada implements the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and once Bill C-5 passes.

Bill C-5, "An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act," has been criticized by Conservative MPs for "removing mandatory jail time for violent criminals who commit serious and deadly offences with guns."

The Globe reported earlier this month that "Indigenous women now make up 50 per cent of the female population in federal prisons, even though just 4.9 per cent of women in Canada are Indigenous. For all Indigenous prisoners, men and women, the rate stands at 32 per cent."

"We're turning a big ship around," Lametti said, "and I think it's fair to say we're doing it incrementally in order to bring the rest of Canadian society along."