The name is absent

58

Moreover, the prison statistics for Aboriginals are shockingly high. In 1995, Aboriginal
Canadians made up only around 3 per cent of the Canadian population, but represented 17 per
cent of federal penitentiary inmates. The situation is even worse for female Aboriginal Canadians
who reportedly represented 29 per cent of women in federal prisons in 2003 (Stavenhagen,
2004:14-15). This illustrates the magnitude of the problem that aboriginal communities are
facing with crime. As education can be seen as a crime reducing policy, it also illustrates the
potentially large benefits education can bring to their communities, both to individuals and
society in general.

iii. Health

Lower levels of education resulting in poverty among the Aboriginal population are a
contributing factor to the poorer health experienced by Aboriginal Canadians. Reserves are
characterized by higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse.²³ Aboriginal Canadians are also three
times more likely to have diabetes than the overall Canadian population and nine times more
likely to contract tuberculosis. The United Nations report of 2004 stated that a leading cause of
death among aboriginal children and youth was suicide. Suicide in aboriginal men and women
15-24, was 5 and 8 times the general Canadian rate, respectively (Helin, 2006:112). Better
physical and psychological health through education could lead to a healthier lifestyle and a
better sense of control of one‘s life for Aboriginal Canadians.

²³ These realities might also impact the number of children who need to be, in one form or another, institutionalized.
Current estimates are that there are between 22,500 and 28,000 aboriginal children who are in the child welfare
system (First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, 2003). Although they represent only 3.3 per cent of the
Canadian population, they account for a total of 30 per cent of the children in the Canadian welfare system (Bennet
and Blackstock, 2002). In the same vein, the chance of a First Nation child going on to child welfare care is 1 in 17,
versus a 1 in 200 chance for a non-aboriginal child in Canada (IICRD and ABLO, 2004)

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