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Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI based on the content of the source document.
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Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI based on the content of the source document.
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Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI based on the content of the source document.
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Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI based on the content of the source document.
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The high rates of Aboriginal admissions to custody have been noted by Commissions of Inquiry, all levels of government, and Corrections texts in Canada for some time. In the most recent year for which data are available (2000–2001), Aboriginal offenders accounted for 19% of provincial admissions and 17% of federal admissions to custody. This article examines provincial custodial sentenced admissions for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders since 1978, when national statistics including the ethnicity of the offender were first published. Particular emphasis is paid in this analysis to recent trends during a period in which Parliament and the Supreme Court have tried to address the problem, the former by statutory recognition of the unique nature of Aboriginal offenders, the latter by judgments interpreting Criminal Code sentencing provisions introduced in 1996. The findings suggest that little progress has been made in reducing the number of Aboriginal sentenced admissions over the past few decades. Although the volume of Aboriginal admissions to custody has declined since 1993–1994, non-Aboriginal admissions have declined at an even faster rate, suggesting that specific policy changes are not responsible for the Aboriginal decline.
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The author raises questions about potential threats to our democratic order that may arise from advancements in surveillance technology. Among the developments that concern him are the increasing power of investigators to conduct surveillance, the enhanced ability of the public and private sectors to share information and the steady growth in the sophistication of surveillance technology. At the same time, there is less scrutiny of surveillance practices by independent bodies. The author argues that these factors are combining to make surveillance of individuals dangerously easy. He warns that this may erode key democratic values, particularly freedom of expression and the right to privacy. The author reviews the 'Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)', and concludes that while it is a good first step, it falls short by not adopting the European Union's strict approach to consent. As a result,further measures are needed to ensure that democratic values are adequately preserved, such as stronger laws dictating how government and private agencies collect and store information as well as greater accountability of government to its citizens. In addition, to help ensure such accountability, the author argues that there should be a method of tracking government searches for information. Finally, the author suggests an alternative system under which the personally identifying elements of collected information are removed and stored separately, accessible only upon independently verified grounds.
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Citizenship is a key factor in the development of national identity. Any system for establishing and defining citizenship is meaningless as a tool for the creation of such an identity, however, without control of the mechanisms by which this system is designed and implemented. In this paper I propose to examine the constitutional status of an Aboriginal right to control the design and implementation of citizenship codes. As the judiciary in Canada begins to grapple with questions of Aboriginal self-determination, it must begin to consider the extent to which its own vision of Canada as a constitutional democracy, currently engaged in a project of reconciling Aboriginal peoples to the sovereignty of the Crown, will set out parameters for locating and constructing such a right. Within the confines of constitutional law in Canada, do Aboriginal peoples have a right to design and implement their own citizenship codes, free from interference from Canadian governments? Alternatively, is there such a right, but subject to some measure of control by the Crown, and perhaps subject to other constitutional instruments, such as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
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Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI based on the content of the source document.