Minister points to systemic racism within justice system following StatCan report

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree says there are issues of systemic racism within the criminal justice system.
    
He made the remarks after Statistics Canada released a new report on homicides of Indigenous women and girls.
    
Data shows that more than half of cases involving non-Indigenous women and girls between 2009 and 2021 resulted in charges of first-degree murder.
    
But when the victim was Indigenous, police laid or recommended that charge half as often, with the less-serious offences of second-degree murder and manslaughter being more common.
    
During that time period, StatCan also found that Indigenous women and girls were killed at a rate six times higher than that of women and girls who were not Indigenous.
    
Anandasangaree says there's definitely a lot of work to do but he doesn't think yesterday's report should be shocking.
    
He says it's sadly part of the colonial legacy that Canada is trying to untangle.