What was R. v. Gladue (1999)?

R. v. Gladue is the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision interpreting section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code, which requires sentencing courts to consider 'all available sanctions other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the circumstances ... with particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders'. The court held that the provision required a different methodology of sentencing for Indigenous offenders, reflecting both the unique systemic and background factors that may have brought them before the courts and the appropriateness of restorative or community-based sanctions in many cases.

Jamie Tanis Gladue, a Cree-Metis woman, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the killing of her common-law husband Reuben Beaver in Nanaimo, British Columbia in September 1995. She was 19 years old at the time of the offence and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. She appealed the sentence on the basis that the sentencing judge had not properly considered her Indigenous heritage. The Supreme Court ultimately did not reduce the sentence (because the offence was extremely serious) but provided extensive reasons that have shaped Canadian sentencing of Indigenous offenders ever since.

Justices Peter Cory and Frank Iacobucci wrote the unanimous opinion. They directed sentencing courts to consider the unique systemic or background factors that may have played a part in bringing the Indigenous offender before the courts (including poverty, substance abuse, family breakdown, intergenerational trauma from residential schools, and the legacy of colonisation) and the types of sentencing procedures and sanctions that may be appropriate because of the offender's Indigenous heritage. The reasons drew on the 1991 Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba, the 1991 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and earlier section 718.2(e) academic commentary.

Gladue introduced 'Gladue reports' as a sentencing tool in many Canadian provinces. R. v. Ipeelee (2012) reaffirmed and strengthened the Gladue framework, holding that the failure to apply Gladue principles is an error of law and that Gladue applies to all sentencing decisions including long-term offender designations and parole hearings. Despite the Gladue framework, Indigenous overrepresentation in Canadian prisons has continued to grow: as of 2023, Indigenous adults comprised about 5 per cent of the Canadian population but more than 32 per cent of federal inmates and a higher proportion of provincial inmates. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action of 2015 included specific calls for further sentencing reform.