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The Gladue principle features in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, released on Monday, in the ways one might expect. The inquiry calls on all governments to “consider Gladue reports as a right,” to fund them appropriately and to create national standards for them.

But almost in the same breath, it seems to cast doubt on the whole endeavour. Commissioner Qajaq Robinson on Monday said that in some instances, the Gladue principle is “resulting in violence against Indigenous women” by affording lighter sentences to those who hurt them. The report calls on governments to assess the impacts of the Gladue principle on “sentencing equity” in such cases.

Photo by Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The recommendation is one of several that seem to call for harsher punishments for those who commit violence against Indigenous women, despite the report itself providing little context to support them. By way of explanation, one line in a summary of findings says there is a “commonly held belief that Indigenous offenders receive more lenient sentences” because of the Gladue principle. “I use the language families use,” Robinson said on Monday. “You get out of jail free. You get a slap on the wrist. The severity of the violence, the reality and the experiences of the Indigenous women in these cases of violence isn’t part of the equation.”

This is a perception that those who write Gladue reports are used to facing, but one they strongly reject. “There’s no quantitative study that points to evidence that Gladue reports always result in shorter sentences,” said Anisa White, chairperson of the Gladue Writers Society of British Columbia. She said a Gladue report, properly done, can set out plans for offenders to make amends in their communities, address trauma and substance abuse, and rebuild their lives. “I fully reject the notion that Gladue reports are negative.”