This article considers the disproportionate incarceration rate of Aboriginal offenders in Canadian prisons and the effectiveness of Parliament\u27s attempts at alleviating this problem through the enactment of section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code. This article focuses primarily on two recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions-R. v. Gladue and R. v. Wells. It is argued that the Court\u27s narrow view of systemic factors, the Imitation it places on section 718.2(e) through its discussion of serious offences, as well as a number of practical problems inherent in the framework provided by the Court, strip the provision of its remedial intent. The article then argues that the Courts failure to recognize the distinct purposes of section 718 2(e) and the original sentencing provisions found in section 742.1, will aggravate the problem of Aboriginal over-representation in Canadian penal institutions
