By Ian Holmes

Gladue reports more prevalent in B.C. courtrooms; local writer praised by judge

Mar 2, 2018 | 4:48 PM

NANAIMO — A tool providing enhanced background information prior to sentencing Indigenous offenders is becoming a bigger factor in B.C. courtrooms.

Gladue Writers Society of BC vice chairman Mitch Walker said Gladue reports provide deep context of an Indigenous offenders’ background and possible treatment options that otherwise aren’t available for a judge’s consideration.

“It provides a wider array of resources, whether that be a treatment program or something that the community has the capacity to offer,” Walker told NanaimoNewsNOW.

He said a jump from about 75 annual Gladue reports to 200 is expected in B.C. this year, thanks to funding from the Legal Services Society. The reports, which can be requested by defence counsel, began as a pilot project in the province in 2011.

Walker said while Gladue reports can lead to reduced sentences, the primary objective is to improve long term outcomes for offenders by linking them with supportive services like employment and counseling in their own community.

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He said when appropriate, victims can take part in the Gladue process.

“To recommend some restorative measures that can involve everybody who has been harmed by this individual to help this individual rehabilitate themselves. It really invigorates a community.”

A Gladue report written by Nanaimo’s Anisa White was a key factor in the sentencing of Jeffrey MacDonald, who was handed an additional two years in prison for a series of violent crimes on the mid-island in 2016.

A key plank in the report recommended allowing MacDonald to serve his sentence at the Nanaimo Correctional Centre, home of the renowned Guthrie Therapeutic Community treatment centre.

Judge Douglas Cowling called White’s report, featuring MacDonald’s difficult upbringing and available treatment options, the most comprehensive Gladue report he had ever seen.

Walker noted a centralized and ever complicated justice system often doesn’t work for Indigenous offenders or the communities they live in.

“It removes participation in the justice system,” Walker said. “Justice is something that happens to them, it’s not something that happens with them (or) for them.”

Walker said he’s convinced the Gladue process will help lead to healthier outcomes for offenders.

Ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes