A recent report by the Correctional Investigator of Canada found that Indigenous over-incarceration in the federal system has hit a record high of 30 per cent. That number is expected to climb to 33 per cent in the next three years, yet Indigenous people account for only five per cent of Canada’s population.

In reaction to the report, criminal lawyers and advocacy groups have reiterated their calls for the federal government to mass pardon Indigenous inmates who are not locked away for violent crimes.

In this episode we speak to Lionel Chartrand and Max Silverman, lawyers who work with Indigenous peoples in Canada’s prisons.

Image credit: Office of the Correctional Investigator, https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/photo/Quebec/index_portcartier-eng.aspx