Senator Pate: Thank you, Senator Gold.

In fact, the government’s own research shows that the bill will not decrease Indigenous overrepresentation, based on what it has introduced, so I’m also interested in what the timeline is and what steps remain before these commissions are operational. If the government is not planning immediate review of these women’s cases by these commissions, how will they plan to remedy these miscarriages of justice?

Hon. Kim Pate: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Yesterday, we launched a report representing a collaboration between our office, 12 Indigenous women with lived experiences of injustices and miscarriages of justice in the criminal legal system, Indigenous senators and leaders and numerous other experts and advisers. The report highlights the role of systemic colonialism, racism and misogyny in marginalizing, victimizing, criminalizing and institutionalizing women, including by failing to protect women experiencing violence and then subjecting them to a mandatory life sentence when they use force to try to protect themselves or others. The report calls for a group review of the convictions and sentences of these 12 Indigenous women by the Law Commission of Canada or the anticipated miscarriages of justice commission.

In light of the role that mandatory life sentences play in the miscarriages of justice for Indigenous women, will the government commit to amending Bill C-5 prior to referring it to the Senate in order to ensure that judges can do their job of assessing all circumstances when sentencing so that they are not unfairly handcuffed by mandatory minimum sentences, as they were in the cases of many of these 12 women?