Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I'd like to introduce myself and tell you a little about who I am.
I'm Jim Bonta. I began my career as a clinical psychologist and for 14 years was the chief psychologist at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. While I was there in the detention centre I began doing my research. In 1990 I joined the Department of the Solicitor General, as it was called at the time, where I became director of research. I have spent the last 30 years of my career trying to understand and better assess the risk that offenders pose to the community and issues around their rehabilitation. Basically, how can we identify high-risk offenders and separate them from the lower-risk offenders? What kinds of interventions may work best in reducing their chances of recidivistic crime?
The research in Public Safety Canada, where I am director of corrections research, has spanned, as some of you may know, areas from dangerous offenders to the national flagging system. We have worked on research projects with prosecutors and the courts on various issues.
I'm here today to try to answer your questions as they relate to our scientific understanding of the assessment of risk and the treatability of offenders.