In helping to announce the new Okanagan jail site this week, just north of Oliver, Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie brought up a legitimate issue that needs to be addressed.
That being the over-representation of First Nations people in the correctional system.
Now that the back-slapping and hand-shaking is over, the question has to be asked: why is it that native people are incarcerated at a far-higher rate than non-natives?
The reasons are likely many, not the least of which is a disproportionate probability of living in poverty. Bleak prospects lead to desperate acts.
The root causes date back to our colonial governments' sad history with First Nations generations ago, institionalizing a nanny state that served to keep natives down rather than help them up.
But, at least in the Okanagan, we have forward-thinking native leaders who have turned the Osoyoos and Westbank reserves into thriving business centres. Still, you don't have to look too far to see that our First Nations neighbours don't always enjoy the same standard of living as the rest of us.
Louie should be commended for putting the issue front and centre at the jail announcement.
"We would hope that this project, being the first of its kind on an Indian reserve, that we can work out and change the statistics of aboriginal incarceration in this country," he said.
The partnership with the band is a good first step toward that goal.
- Managing Editor
Jon Manchester