I am the director of corrections for Native Counselling Services of Alberta, a not-for-profit that has provided programs and services for indigenous people in conflict with the law, for over 50 years.
Native Counselling Services of Alberta runs the largest healing lodge for male federal offenders in Canada and the first section 81 healing lodge for federal female offenders. Healing lodges are minimum-security federal institutions in which the care and custody of minimum-security federal offenders is transferred to the indigenous community under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
Focusing on indigenous culture and ceremony, section 81 healing lodges work to reintegrate indigenous federal offenders into the community using an indigenous world view. We are better equipped to deal with indigenous offenders than the Correctional Service because we understand historic trauma and take our [Technical difficulty—Editor] reintegration because we know our communities. Section 81 healing lodges are the face of reconciliation and indigenous reintegration for federal offenders.
Today I'll speak about the impacts of COVID-19 on [Technical difficulty—Editor] service providers in particular. The wider impact is important for understanding the impact on offenders.
Since the Truth and Reconciliation [Technical difficulty—Editor].