Justice committee  I would say that I'm somewhat exceptional, but that's what this legislation was for. It was for those who do exceptionally well in a prison environment. I work with men serving life sentences. Most of the men who are serving life sentences now and who are eligible to apply for the judicial review don't; most of them maintain throughout their sentence that they look forward to applying, but once they get to that point, many of them just say no.

Justice committee  Yes. It took about a week.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  Yes. They do a total file review.

Justice committee  I did.

Justice committee  Yes. It was the same jurisdiction.

Justice committee  It took several months. I had to go through freedom of information because a lot of the files weren't readily available to me or my lawyer. At the same time as I was doing that, Corrections identified someone as a witness for the courts. They provide documents for the courts. They're not a witness for the applicant or against the applicant; they're a witness for the courts.

Justice committee  No. It was a few weeks later.

Justice committee  It was several months.

Justice committee  They recommended that I be released immediately, but that wasn't the case. I still had to go through the parole board process.

Justice committee  It took about a year before I got full parole, because you have to go through steps. I first made application to go in front of the parole board and was granted unescorted temporary absences. After that, I had to make another application for day parole. After that, I had to make another application for full parole, so at any point during that period the parole board could have said no, and I would have stayed in custody.

Justice committee  It was close to two years.

Justice committee  When I made my application, I believe it was either at the end of 1993 or early 1994, and towards the end of 1995 I was granted full parole. I believe it was November 1995.

Justice committee  Yes, I have.

Justice committee  It takes longer now because, as I say, a judge determines whether or not the application has merit. If the judge determines that it has no merit, the person can't apply.