Up to 500 people in over two dozen northern Manitoba First Nations communities will be able to access a program providing Indigenous-led alternatives to incarceration each year, which is now getting $5 million in federal support.
The funds will go to Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak’s Gladue Pathways to Healing Initiative, a project that will help courts consider culturally informed sentencing options that address root causes of justice system involvement, the Liberal government said Thursday.
Program participants will receive individualized plans, case management services and other support, including help connecting with housing, health, addictions counselling and education, a federal news release said.
The program is expected to reach 500 people each year in 26 member communities of MKO, an advocacy organization for northern Manitoba First Nations.
“This is not a softer approach to justice — it is a stronger and more effective one,” Rebecca Chartrand, the member of Parliament for the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, said at a Thursday news conference.
“Justice in the north cannot simply be designed in the south and flown into our northern communities,” she said. “It must be shaped and led by the people who understand these communities, their strengths and their realities.”