On Tuesday, April 15, 2003 The Commission on First Nations and Métis Peoples and Justice Reform held a roundtable on Crime Prevention at Wanuskewin Heritage Park. In attendance were the Commissioners and staff plus invited guests from a wide range of service and government organizations as well Elder and youth representation. An open discussion was held throughout the day.

The Commission hosted a roundtable on Crime Prevention to acquire ideas and proposals that will lead to improved relations between Aboriginal people and the police and that will lead to safer communities in Saskatchewan. The areas addressed at this roundtable were:

1. Perspectives on crime and crime prevention in Saskatchewan
2. Constructive crime prevention initiatives in Saskatchewan
3. Solutions and other proposals
4. Implementation phase: opportunities, barriers and possibilities

1. Perspectives on Crime and Crime Prevention in Saskatchewan

   The first discussion was around crime and crime prevention in Saskatchewan. The basic thrust of this conversation can be summed up in a fortune cookie saying: "Society creates the crime and the criminal commits it." In some ways, rules create crime – instead of treating addictions as a mental health issue, addicted people are criminalized. The definition of crime, according to one group, revolves around the effect it has on people in crime. Ultimately, crime affects those who commit crime more because of how that person is brought up, whether it is in a home with domestic violence, substance abuse or other such problems. The tendency is to look at crime one-sided but it affects the whole community. When a crime happens, the tone of community changes, to the point where a community is happy when the offender is jailed again. Hunger and racism are crimes in the sense that they are against human rights. Who is the criminal in hunger? Are communities responsible for not finding effective ways to distribute the wealth? Crime is committed against individuals and the collective whole. Some people commit crimes so they can go back into correctional institutions because family is there, jail is a safer place, and there is food available.

   Effective crime prevention focuses on affordable housing and soup kitchens. Prevention services aimed at at-risk-youth are important in the areas of alcohol addiction, substance abuse and other mental health issues. Activities done for free are often the most effective crime prevention methods. Extracurricular activities, transportation and lunches and suppers throughout the week are all essential elements of effective crime prevention. Crime prevention activities that lack a strategy can turn into babysitting services, though. Youth need involvement in their communities, to give them a sense of ownership of the future. A study done to determine what it would take for youth to remain in Saskatchewan found that youth want to be able to contribute, make decisions, and feel valued by the community and that the future is theirs. Adults need to start thinking of youth as people who have something to contribute, not as "at risk." Youth commit crimes because they are bored, they have no one to guide them and/or they want someone to pay attention to them. These problems require investments of time, not money. For example, one twelve-year-old girl was very disrespectful and refused to go to school. After some intensive one-on-one intervention by another person, she started going to school. Treating young people with respect and credibility improves young attitudes. Everyone is at risk for committing crime – even upper class youth are neglected sometimes. Although some people are inclined to blame parents for neglected youth, sometimes parents do not have enough supports. It is important to focus on youth regarding crime prevention but people must not forget about the context in which youth live. Youth carry with them crimes committed in the household such as sexual abuse and family violence.

   Crime prevention is difficult to define. It covers participation in school, healthy families, and healthy communities. Crime prevention is intervention that enables individuals to make choices, caring for people without judgement and rebuilding communities. Our society is segregated and government policies enforce the segregation by assigning bureaucratic identities to people (status, non-status, Metis, Inuit). When Aboriginal people are young, those bureaucratic identities do not mean much. It is only after people are old enough to understand those identities that they become important. For example, in one person’s Grade 4 class, they were asked to identify what "race" they were and if they felt uncomfortable to whisper it to their teacher. This person at the time did not understand why anyone would be ashamed of his or her "race". These kinds of actions are damaging to young egos and contribute to feelings of alienation. This can often mark the beginning of the formation of a racialized identity. Relationships between the non-Aboriginal and the Aboriginal communities have to improve, as some communities refuse to have coffee with people from neighbouring reserves. Parents shape children’s worldviews by teaching youth that some people are different and to not associate with "those" people. What can result is a young person who does not feel as if they belong anywhere – not belonging in the non-Aboriginal community because of skin colour and not belonging in the Aboriginal community because of skin colour and/or values. The ignorance of each culture ends up separating and isolating people. Ultimately though, crime prevention cannot be restricted just to racism. It encompasses other social ills such as the urban/rural division and class positions. Some people do not know that it is not okay to hit people because they have seen it while growing up. To raise positive community members requires positive attention. Each of the different community resources available are all working to this same goal. Different responses are necessary for different people. Effective coordination of current resources is a good step forward for community development and healing. It is important that community resources concentrate on what they can do instead of trying to do everything, especially considering the wide array of services in some communities. In some ways, rules create crime – instead of treating addictions as a mental health issue, these people are criminalized.
    

2. Constructive crime prevention initiatives:

• Saskatoon Native Theatre - Spiritual programs
• Big Brother Societies - Egadz
• Neighbourhood Watch - employment
• Sports, recreation, arts - career development
• Core neighbourhood youth coops - theater groups for acting, music, dance
• Cooperation between community centers
• Kamamakus - Street Culture Kidz
• Youth outreach counselors - friendship centers
• Waskegun Youth Development Center - life skills training
• Eagle program - Lucy Baker alternative school
• Street outreach projects - proper nutrition
• Community schools - Kinsmen Hockey League
• White Buffalo Youth Lodge - homelessness project in Regina
• Schools Plus - Grandmothers Program
• SHOCAP - Alternative measures
• Restorative justice - Operation Target
• Compensation for children doing well in schools
• Stable, long term funding - transitional program (institution to release)

One major concern for front line agencies is funding. There is no stable funding for programs. Yet, the government has shifted the onus for rehabilitation and/or prevention programs onto community resources. Funding could be made available on a yearly basis for programs because there are always government funding grant programs. What some agencies do is take the same program that has worked for the past year, change it slightly to fit the new criteria or give it a new name, and then apply for funding under the new government grant program. This also creates competition amongst agencies for funding which is not conducive to team building among community agencies. Then, programs are about funding, not the youth. Community agencies would like to share resources and networks. Different outlets appeal to different youth so a variety of community agencies are necessary. Also, society is investing money in the wrong places. We provide stable funding for jobs such as corrections workers and do not have stable jobs in community schools (a preventative measure). We expect youth to participate in these programs for nothing when they could continue to steal or prostitute and make money. Another problem with funding is that institutions such as the Paul Dojack Youth Centre have lots of funding. With no new funding and increased expectations for community resources and the YCJA, some community workers feel it is better that youth are in institutions because at least there they get school and activities.

Programs have to focus on employable skills to foster youth development. Beneficial programs have an educational, employment and/or cultural aspect. Programs should focus on Grades 6 to 10 because that is the period of time where youth get into trouble. Centralizing programs into one building can create harmony amongst community programs and be less confusing for clients. Evaluation criteria of programs should have youth input. Connecting to culture can provide for powerful healing, foster respect for Elders and give people a sense of their ancestry. A discussion began about having ceremonies in schools. While some people liked the idea, others were concerned about respect – now, Catholic prayers are not allowed in public schools. Maybe, doing these programs after school when the school is open to the community could be a way to get around this issue. If there was enough funding, community schools could stay open in the evening and provide much needed support for the high Aboriginal transient population. Gang, drug and sexual education should begin at the elementary level because gangs are recruiting youth at early ages. DART, based on the RCMP DARE program but for adults, has not been offered to all schools, only low risk schools. The program should be delivered in high-risk schools, as that is where a large portion of gang and drug activity happens. If these programs are not taught to youth early enough, they stop believing in the system. Youth grow up believing themselves to be inferior, lacking hope, with beer bottles, no food and fighting. To encourage a sense of accomplishment and connection to the community, there could be sports programs or youth involvement in neighbourhood watch programs. At this point, the large police presence in Japan was raised. There are unarmed police officers in every two square miles of the city who operate out of little booths. These officers know people and act like guardians who patrol the streets.

Another point raised was the lack of treatment centers. Youth are released from institutions into the same environments from which they came (family alcohol abuse problems, etc). To effectively stop offending, family treatment centers are necessary (see below). Sometimes, children only live in negative environments and cannot recognize that they are harmful and abnormal. To prevent children from living in harmful environments for too long distributed information and education in schools, daycares and playgrounds can help children recognize harmful environments. Also, contact between stabilized and unstable youth would help.

The first step to reducing the high numbers of youth incarcerated is to find ways to ensure youth are never incarcerated in the first place. Deglamourizing youth views of "thug culture" through ex-gang member talks is a good first step. Stabilizing children so they can learn marketable skills is another good step. One participant suggested a new phrase, instead of youth-at-risk, a better idea would be youth-with-potential. Instilling pride in one’s community could prevent vandalism. Alberta requires people to work or go to school to get social assistance. Instead, social workers here encourage people to have more children so they can get more social assistance. Youth should be involved in politics. The highest expense for many programs is the administration. Councils of youth and Elders can open the doors of communication to government.

Opportunities:

• Safer communities where people can walk at any time of the day.
• More sports programs. - no youth in jail
• No need for day cares in bingo halls - not enabling addictions
• No Aboriginal over-representation in prisons
• Aboriginal over-representation in universities, technical institutes etc.
• Faster court case processing times - increased population in Saskatchewan
• Greater recognition of Aboriginal achievements
• Aboriginal communities looking after their own justice problems
• More role models for youth
• Funders ask programmers what they need

Barriers to the Future

• Human apathy - attitudes
• Conformity - fear of change
• Too many chiefs, not enough Indians - government with a different vision
• Bureaucracy - vested interests
• Class - status quo
• Ourselves - level of commitment
• Money - education (not learn right things)
• Community segregation - changing demographics
  • Shift racism in the province to restore relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people
• Not in my back yard syndrome - public perception
• focus on the problems in Aboriginal communities instead of the strengths
• bureaucracy protecting itself - community commitment

Possibilities:

• technology
  • enable communications on issues
  • level the economic playing field
• capitalize on baby boomer retirement
• learn from the youth justice forum pilot project (Prince Albert and Regina)
• provincial and federal elections
  • ask elected officials what the future means?
  • How will they reshape policies in anticipation of the changing demographics
  • They have a role to make Saskatchewan a place to stay
• keep the lines of communication open
• encourage champions to make change
• there are no effective lobby groups to force the government to take a step forward
• revival and renaissance ideas for culture and community