Justice committee  For CCRA, yes, because how would they get the wardens. They don't have access to that.

Justice committee  I think anything that provides victims with more information about why decisions are made is a good thing. Particularly if Mr. Spratt is saying they do that on a regular basis anyway, having it on record and available to victims makes sense.

Justice committee  One example I've given is that it requires the victim to consent in advance to the information that's being shared with the offender. That's simply one example that could be implemented. I use that as an example because that would ensure that the victim is comfortable with the parameters.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  Or no reasons being given.

Justice committee  For example, if a registered victim chooses to attend a parole hearing, and they attend, there's a lot of emotion in many cases as well. For example, they may want to ask to listen to the audio recording that was made, next week or something. They can't do that, because it wasn't made for those purposes.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  It has to provide written reasons to the—

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  I think this is one piece. I think we have a lot of work to do in ensuring that people.... When people report crime, they want to be involved in the criminal justice system. They need to have faith that the system is going to consider their needs, that it's respectful and will treat them with dignity.

Justice committee  You've raised a very good point. As I've indicated, there have to be some procedural safeguards in place, particularly when the offender does not know the address of the victim. We're a very broad and expansive country. As has been pointed out by many people here, we have small rural communities, northern communities, fly-in communities, and large urban communities.

Justice committee  I have the same challenges when I speak to the victims I deal with, but I will deal with the issue of proximity, and that's what we're talking about when offenders are released back into a community. As I've indicated, in the last fiscal year alone, we've had 10 complaints with regard to this.

Justice committee  Well, the impact is huge, obviously. If we want healthy and safe communities, that means we balance them and look after all of the people in our communities. If we, as people involved in the criminal justice system, have a victims lens on it and consider their input and their needs, obviously that's going to be helpful for the families to know.

Justice committee  I think what I wanted to highlight was that certainly from the courts there is a transcript that could be available—although written, obviously, would be preferable. But I really want to emphasize, when it comes to a decision by the parole board and by the head of the institution....

Justice committee  What I can tell you is there are approximately 6,000 to 7,000 registered victims of offenders who are in a federal institution. The other thing I can say is that when it comes to a victim's lens, for them it's not a matter of numbers but a matter of their involvement with the criminal justice system—whether they have they been respected and whether their safety and risk was considered when these decisions were being made.