The Aboriginal Justice Research Project was produced under the supervision of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and the ICPC.
ICPC is a member of the Justice sub-Committee of the Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network (NETWORK), which offers a space for groups working on Aboriginal issues in Montreal to gather, exchange and collaborate on various initiatives. The sub-Committee works on Aboriginal safety issues and is closely examining the elevated exposure of Aboriginal people to the criminal justice system. In February 2012, the sub-Committee was granted funding by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) to engage in a research project - Aboriginal Justice Research Project. The project was led by ICPC and assessed the need to expand Aboriginal-specific programming (before, during and after custody) for Aboriginal people coming into contact with the criminal justice system in Montreal. The research involved a combination of 63 semi-structured interviews and unstructured in-depth interviews, which were conducted in English and French, in person, over the phone or via email and were carried out in March and April 2012. The main report provides a description of the research, the results and the recommendations.