Public Safety committee  There is no denying that there may be alternatives that could flow from changes to the Criminal Code. Conditional sentences could certainly be one of the avenues to consider. However, this is upstream from the correctional system and my responsibility is to the federal correctional system.

Public Safety committee  I can only answer with respect to recommendations that are targeting the criminal justice system, but more specifically corrections. I can tell you that, in the calls to action as well as the inquiry into the missing and murdered indigenous women, there were many recommendations that mirrored those of my office.

Public Safety committee  Again, we spend an inordinate amount of funding on incarceration, with returns that are not great. When I talk about indigenous people, when you look at recidivism or reoffending rates of those who come from the prairie region, we're looking at 70% reoffending rates. That certainly has a public safety aspect to it.

Public Safety committee  Thank you.

Public Safety committee  We have the Parole Board of Canada that makes those decisions. If the board views that offenders do not pose an undue risk and can be managed in the community, then that's part of the answer. I would suggest that you ask that question to the chair of the Parole Board or the commissioner of Correctional Service Canada as to why those numbers are rising.

Public Safety committee  Okay. First, I would like to take the opportunity to provide sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Marylène Lévesque. I have two preoccupations with this case. The first one is that this is an extreme case. It's a very rare event when somebody who committed murder is released and commits murder again.

Public Safety committee  I think you allude to the part of the report that.... In an institution where they have this count that gets triggered so that one out of every three women have to be strip-searched coming out of where they see visitors, there's no evidence to show that it has mitigated any sort of risk to the institution with respect to contraband or bringing in drugs.

Public Safety committee  In fact, we always have to talk about best practices, which is one of the problems within the Correctional Service, which is a highly decentralized organization. Depending on local situations, some wardens take initiatives. I think it would be important to standardize best practices within the Correctional Service.

Public Safety committee  Personally, I think training is always important. In my opinion, these kinds of policies that apply as they stand to the entire inmate population are not always the best way to prevent drugs from entering penitentiaries. I think it has to be done on a case-by-case basis and there has to be dynamic security, where correctional officers play a key role in gathering intelligence on the entry of drugs.

Public Safety committee  I can certainly have my office provide the committee with a precise answer. When it comes to statutory release, the bulk of inmates are being released at two-thirds of their sentence. For indigenous people it's over 70% and for non-indigenous people it's slightly over 60%.

Public Safety committee  This government brought in new legislation to eliminate solitary confinement as defined by the Nelson Mandela rules or the standard minimum rules for prisoners. The idea was to ensure that inmates are spending at least four hours outside their cells, with the possibility of more human contact.

Public Safety committee  We produced a report on the matter of inmates aging and dying in prison. This segment of the prison population has been growing in recent years. It is now over 25% of the prison population. These are people aged 50 and over who have many health problems, both physical and mental.

Public Safety committee  Yes, I believe so. There are definitely pockets wherein those communities are more in contact with law enforcement, absolutely, in some urban settings. These would include Toronto and Halifax, for example.

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  Yes, I believe that is a part of the—