Public Safety committee  I'll just add a comment to that question if I may. The employment area is one of our highly focused areas in terms of assessment when inmates first come in, looking at what are their employment skills capability and what is their past employment record. A lot of research shows, exactly as you heard from inmates, that lack of employment does contribute to their crime cycle.

Public Safety committee  Yes, very much. I think it is a concern for us in many ways to understand the context of the clientele we have and the context that what may be seen in the general community as a small amount of drugs is actually quite prolific in our particular institutions and the environment we have.

Public Safety committee  I think it's very important for crown attorneys that at various points we need them to understand the context. Crowns have limitations as well, of course, but at the same time understanding that in the correctional environment it is so much more compounded because of the environment we work in.

Public Safety committee  Sure. Would it be worthwhile to give you a little bit of the context of the programs? Because many continue on the inside through to the outside.

Public Safety committee  Okay. Probably one of our most comprehensive programs is our substance abuse program that starts inside. Essentially, what we do is measure this at intake. We look for the levels of addictive properties that they've used. We look at their crime. We look at violence associated with drugs.

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  Sure. We have an assessment of inmates who come with addictive properties or who have been known to have been addicted. We run it through a medical check. Basically the program is worked through medical channels. If an offender is deemed to require a substance such as methadone therapy as an alternative to seeking other types of drugs, it will be administered in a very controlled setting.

Public Safety committee  No, it could be a short-term sentence, because if you have a short-term sentence the actual continuation of the methadone program could continue in the community, along with the interchange of medical community people in the community.

Public Safety committee  Yes. As a service we've adopted the position not to support needle exchange. Rather, we take the approach of using harm reduction capability. I think you have heard some testimony about how drugs or drug paraphernalia get inside the institutions. I think you've heard testimony about throw-overs.

Public Safety committee  There's a strong correlation between drugs and violence inside the institution. I believe you may have heard some past testimony related to the extortion capabilities and the violence that is inflicted with drugs, with people under the control of drugs. Drug interdiction strategies are very prolific for us to create an environment for inmates who want to change their behaviour, who are interested in participating in programs, who have a desire to turn their lives around.

Public Safety committee  Great. Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. My opening comments will be only five minutes and I will be making opening comments on behalf of Mr. Wheeler and myself. Thank you for inviting us to appear before you today to discuss how the Correctional Service of Canada manages the issue of drugs within our penitentiaries, with a more focused attention on our part on the programming treatment piece.