Black, Indigenous people significantly overrepresented in prisons: StatCan

Damning details from Canada’s statistical agency show that Black adults were incarcerated at a rate 3.5 times higher than white adults in Nova Scotia.

The province is leading when it comes to the number of Black adults overrepresented in prison compared to white adults. Black women were incarcerated 3.5 times more than white women in the province, something StatCan notes is “substantially higher.”

Renford Farrier, a previously incarcerated person and co-chair of the East Coast Prison Justice Society, said that part of the blame he believes for this overrepresentation is on the people making the decision; the lawyers, judges and parole officers who are, he said, often white.

“We’ve come so far in our society in terms of the way we treat each other,” he said, noting a societal understanding of 2SLGBTQ+ rights, mental health and those with disabilities. “But yet still our justice system operates on laws made by old white men eons ago.”

This is despite Black adults only making up around 3 per cent of the Nova Scotia population, a previous report notes.

This data was collected in 2023/2024 and also shows that Indigenous adults represented 13 per cent of people brought into prison in Nova Scotia, despite making up only 5.5 per cent of the total population.

This means that Indigenous adults in Nova Scotia are in prison at a rate 3.4 times higher than non-Indigenous people. The highest across Canada was in Saskatchewan, where they are incarcerated at a rate 19.4 times higher.

Farrier said from his own experience going through the parole process, he was told a statistic that has stuck with him.

“Black men are the least likely to re-offend upon release, but are the least likely to gain parole,” he said. “So that’s why we overpopulate the prison system, because we’re not getting parole.”

Part of the reason, he notes, is that people know more about this because the data collection has improved. However, Farrier argues that more data is needed on how money and financial literacy play a role in prison rates.

“Believe it or not, money is what drives us,” he said. “And if certain parts of our population are under the (poverty) gap, they are at more risk to commit more risky things for social living.”

One of the things Farrier said is concerning is the lack of a safety net for people leaving prison. For himself, who spent decades behind bars, he is now out in the community needing to rebuild his life.

“If we don’t start to find ways in our judicial system and our correctional system to start to equip (people) with the proper tools, so when they re-enter society, they have a mindset of I want to continue contribute to the society I’m living in,” he said.