Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
With me today is the board’s executive director general, Daryl Churney. We are pleased to appear before this committee as part of its study into Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I will use my opening statement to outline the various measures taken by the Parole Board of Canada since the outset of COVID-19 to ensure the continuity of its operations and the delivery of its important public safety mandate.
However, before I do so, I would like to provide committee members with some information about the PBC’s mandate, as the board has not previously appeared before this committee. The PBC is an independent administrative tribunal that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. We are part of the public safety portfolio, which also includes the Correctional Service of Canada.
The board has the authority, under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, CCRA, to make conditional release decisions for federal offenders serving—