Diversity Initiatives

From: Parole Board of Canada

Diversity Initiatives [PDF - 144 KB]

Context

Indigenous and Black people are over-represented in the federally incarcerated population.
Indigenous and Black people are less likely to be granted conditional release, particularly for full parole.

The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) is a “community board”. The Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) requires that Board members be sufficiently diverse in their backgrounds to represent community values and views.
Over the past several years, the PBC has made significant efforts to recruit Board member candidates from diverse communities and has increased the diversity of its Board members to better reflect the Canadian population.

The PBC continually reviews and updates Board member training to ensure the appropriate level of focus on cultural competency. The PBC is committed to bias-free and evidence-based decision-making.
The PBC regularly provides Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Training to its Board members and staff, and incorporates sessions on culturally responsive decision-making at its Annual Training on Risk Assessment.
Regional Communication Officers regularly receive training on trauma-informed and culturally-responsive communication with victims of crime.

The CCRA requires that policies adopted relating to conditional release reviews must respect gender, ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences and be responsive to the specific needs of women and Indigenous peoples, as well as to the needs of other groups with specific requirements.
In addition to providing guidance on the consideration of systemic and background factors in conditional release and pardons/record suspension decision-making, there are references to groups of people with specific requirements throughout the Decision-Making Policy Manual for Board Members, for example, when considering whether to impose release conditions or authorize leave privileges.
Board members are required to consider culturally appropriate alternatives in conditional release decision-making for Indigenous peoples.
The PBC offers alternate models of hearings to provide a culturally responsive process, while adhering to the criteria for conditional release decision-making.

In reviewing cases for conditional release, Board members use a structured decision-making framework to meet the diverse and complex needs of the incarcerated population while ensuring the highest standard of public safety. The framework considers factors such as: criminal, social and conditional release history, as well as case specific factors.
Board members consider systemic and background factors that have played a part in bringing the individual into interaction with the criminal justice system in both conditional release and pardon/record suspension decision-making.
Systemic and background factors may include, but are not limited to: systemic discrimination, racism, family or community breakdown, unemployment, poverty, or lack of education and employment opportunities.
Systemic and background factors must be considered in cases involving Indigenous peoples, but also apply to other diverse groups.
When working with women in the conditional release process, the PBC is guided by five overarching principles: gender-responsive, culturally aware, trauma-informed, holistic, and partnership-based.
Board members make decisions that are free of bias or prejudice based on race, age, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socio-economic status, or other personal abilities, characteristics or beliefs.

Outreach is a corporate priority and significant progress has been made towards bolstering engagement with new and existing partners and stakeholders. The PBChas also expanded its community partnerships and advisory functions.
The PBC regularly conducts in-reach with incarcerated persons across Canada to explain the PBC's mandate, to raise awareness of the parole and decision-making process, and to prepare individuals for upcoming reviews. Targeted in-reach includes vulnerable populations such as Indigenous peoples, women, and other racialized people.
The PBC participates in various internal and external working groups and committees, such as the Chairperson’s Indigenous Circle, in order to remain informed and sensitive to the issues facing Indigenous peoples, and continues to explore new partnerships with groups representing various vulnerable populations.

The PBC has a Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) Framework, ensuring that GBA+ is applied in all areas of the PBC's policies, programs and initiatives. The framework guides the PBC in considering not only biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences, but also other factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.