SASKATOON — Saskatchewan’s first Indigenous Court is in the works and Indigenous advocates welcome the initiative, saying the system needs change that reflects Indigenous culture. The province intends to launch the pilot in Saskatoon in the summer of 2026.
A former Indigenous offender says the approach is needed and believes it will be successful.
“I have a strong belief that it would work because the two perspectives of reality, what’s generalized or what could be normalized in Indigenous cultures, is not what’s normalized in non-Indigenous society,” said Ian Desjarlais, a designated long-term offender recently released on parole and living in Prince Albert.
Desjarlais said past trauma, systemic racism and lack of cultural understanding shaped his experience in the justice system. He described being “kicked the whole way through” his sentencing and parole process, and said an Indigenous court must avoid traditional courtroom hierarchies, use circle-based approaches, and include people with lived experience. He said judges shouldn’t wear black robes and should act more like community matriarchs or patriarchs guiding accountability and healing.
He said the court must balance cultural grounding with responsibility.
“We want people to also be held accountable to their actions,” he said. “We need a ‘you know what, you made a mistake, you’re going to pay for it and then you’re going to pay for it in a good way.’”
Kim Beaudin, former vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and a former justice of the peace in Saskatoon, said the court is “long overdue.”
Beaudin was involved in early planning of Saskatchewan’s pilot project and visited Calgary’s Indigenous Court, which Saskatchewan hopes to mirror. Beaudin said Calgary’s model emphasized respect, community involvement and non-punitive problem solving.
“They treated you like a human being,” he said, adding that people weren’t brought in handcuffed and that judges spoke to them “like a person.” He said community members – not police or judges – often delivered the strongest accountability.
But Beaudin warned Saskatchewan faces deeper racism and discrimination than Alberta, and success will depend on selecting judges “that can’t have a racist bone in their body.” With Indigenous people making up roughly 85 per cent of those incarcerated in the province, he said the need for change is evident.
The court is being co-designed with Elders, Indigenous communities, service providers and victim-support organizations, said Christeen Shire, spokesperson for Saskatchewan Law Courts in Regina.
Shire said engagement with partners will continue as the pilot is finalized, with its launch expected this year.
“The goal of establishing an Indigenous Provincial Court is to address the over-representation of Indigenous people in the justice system by providing a culturally grounded, restorative and holistic approach to justice,” said Shire.
ljoy@sasktoday.ca
