Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/642579
After 18 years practising criminal law in Thunder Bay, Celina Reitberger was fed up. "I was frustrated," she says, about a justice system that criminalized Aboriginal youth instead of rehabilitating them. The continuing impact of colonial policies like the Sixties Scoop and the residential school system, broke up families and communities and brought Aboriginal people into conflict with a justice system they often didn't understand. So she made a move – to Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Services Corporation (NALSC), at the time a young organization serving 45,000 citizens of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation. NALSC administers the legal aid plan for the First Nations of Treaty 9, and delivers public legal education and law reform initiatives. 18 years on, Reitberger, a member of the Fort William First Nation, has filled many roles at NALSC, and is now the executive director. NALSC has grown steadily to serve its population, working to restore, repair and heal relationships and communities. The traditional concept of the "Circle" is at the heart of the organization's programs. The Circle process is used in child welfare cases, with the aim of strengthening families and keeping them together. Adult and youth diversion programs also use the Circle to deal with the harm caused by offences – and to support offenders to grow, take responsibility, and avoid incarceration. The number of Aboriginal people in prison is a huge problem, says Reitberger, particularly where young people are concerned. "Jail is a finishing school for criminals," she says, serving more to harm rather than heal the offender, and therefore the community. NALSC employs Gladue workers and educates lawyers, the judiciary, and law students about challenges faced by Aboriginal people. "There are still many injustices," says Reitberger, "rooted in policies of colonization." Poverty and a lack of resources and employment opportunities in First Nations communities are also factors that drive the high rate of Aboriginal people's involvement in the justice system. The legal profession can help, but doesn't always: "We're still having issues with lawyers who find it easier and more lucrative to just get people to plead guilty," says Reitberger. "Court is so foreign to Aboriginal people – they just want it over." Aboriginal people, she says, need lawyers and justice sector workers that understand and support them and their culture. That's what NALSC offers to the people of Nishnawbe-Aski Nation. Celina Reitberger 28 FLIP YOUR WIG