B.C. Attorney General David Eby tried not to sound churlish in his support of the suite of federal measures aimed at addressing systemic racism in the country’s legal system.
Who can blame him? The federal announcement was filled with fine-sounding rhetoric; but the province gets to provide the services and pick up most of the tab.
Federal Attorney General David Lametti on Thursday unveiled a package of measures to address the staggering over-incarceration of Black and Indigenous peoples — amending the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to repeal mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug, firearm and tobacco offences and adopting more holistic, community-based sentences and diversion programs.
But judges can’t keep people out of jail if they don’t have housing, access to mental health and addiction treatments and social supports.
“I don’t want to overstate the impact of yesterday’s announcement, but I don’t want to understate it either,” Eby said. “This is important work that needed to be done.”
