The regrettable impact of Canada’s criminal justice system upon the First Nations cannot be denied. Parliament has attempted to address the problem of the overrepresentation of aboriginal offenders in Canadian prisons through section 718.2(e) of the Code. In turn, the Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted and applied that section in cases such as R. v. Gladue and R. v. Wells. In R. v. J.N., the Ontario Court of Appeal is called upon to address a case on the periphery of the issue: 2013 ONCA 251.

 

J.N. was convicted of the sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching for the prolonged sexual abuse of his step-daughter. Although J.N.’s lawyer requested a Gladue report be prepared to assist in the sentencing, Aboriginal Legal Services did not prepare one, as the aboriginal identity of the offender could not be confirmed. He was sentenced at trial to seven years in the prison less two years of pre-trial custody for a total of five years. 

Ultimately, the Court of Appeal in J.N. upheld the sentence but the case is noteworthy for two different facets.