Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through you, I thank the witness for appearing.
I'm going to try to keep the question short. You have answered some of it in different ways, but I need some point-blank answers.
When we first decided to study this program, I looked at it as a cost-effective tool. I'm a goal-oriented person, so I think the whole goal is as you described: to have more responsibility on the part of the person who needs correction while looking at cost-effectiveness.
I home in on that and concentrate on it because to me it made a lot of sense that this particular program appeared to save a lot of money. I think we heard some evidence that the per day cost was something like $20, whereas keeping someone in a prison cell costs between $100 and $200 a day. Right then and there, that tells me that we might better be doing some things on the outside.
Having said that, and with the results of your program being non-conclusive, I would imagine that having a national program—give it some time limits, because in this world of governments and opposition, you don't bring in a permanent program, if it doesn't give you the results.... Would a national program encompassing all reasonable types of offenders for a term—and I'll let you decide what term you think that should be, but I would think 18 months to two years should be sufficient—be a good idea for this committee to suggest as one of its recommendations, based on some of the things I've said?