Legal Aid Ontario funds 3 Gladue writers for northern Ontario

The director of Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services says it has hired three Gladue workers in northern Ontario.

The specially-trained workers will prepare pre-sentence reports on the unique life experiences of aboriginal people who face charges.

Celina Reitberger said the workers will be based in Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay and Timmins.

While it's good news, it does not fill the need in the Sudbury region.

Gladue reports are used by judges in bail matters to consider potential alternatives to custody for aboriginal defendants. 

There has never been a publicly-funded Gladue worker in northern Ontario until now.  

Reitberger said many aboriginal people are crammed into jails on minor charges. The Gladue worker will help divert some to community programs instead.

 “At the bail level, the statistics for the people kept in custody should go down, and I think that will be the biggest measure of our success,” she said.

“Nothing is a hundred per cent, but if you give people the chance to start on their healing program, you are putting them on the road to getting out of the revolving door with the criminal justice system.”

Legal Aid Ontario provides the funding for Gladue. Spokesperson Nye Thomas said the organization is catching up on funding the north.

The latest round of funding is going to Nishnawbe Aski Legal Services, which serves Treaty Nine communities.

“I think — between NAN and Legal Aid Ontario and many other organizations — we're beginning to tackle [the issue] more effectively than we have in the past,” he said.

Funding for a Sudbury Gladue worker will be announced in a couple of months, he added.