I have time.
I have recently been going into penitentiaries to check things out. This may be an area on which you may not be able to answer, but I've seen people and I've talked to individuals in solitary confinement, for example:
“Why are you in solitary confinement?”
“For my own safety.”
“But you're in prison, aren't you safe?”
“No, I'm not.”
“Why are you in this cell?”
“I didn't pay my rent.”
“I beg your pardon, you're in jail; you don't have to pay rent.”
“Oh yes, you do, if you live in a certain ward, because it's run by a gang, this gang and that gang.”
This was true in every penitentiary that I visited. They said that the gangs are getting out of control. Is this not the kind of law that would enable undercover enforcement to go into the prisons to clean this up? Somebody has to stop it; it's on a rampage.
I asked about this at the committee in the last term, two years ago. There's a signal out there that there is a very serious gang problem within our penitentiaries. Shouldn't we have a subcommittee to look into this and see how serious it is? Maybe some action needs to be taken, legislation or something.
My question to you is this. Are you able to infiltrate penitentiaries and get into undercover work in that kind of an area, where crime is being committed by gangs that exist? They're being run from the inside, coached by the outside, sponsored by the outside, funded by the outside, and decisions are made by leaders from the inside.
All that doesn't make sense to this old boy. I find it really strange that a person in a penitentiary would have to go to solitary confinement for protection because he didn't pay his rent. I'm not angry at anybody, but what in the world is going on? Are you able to do something about it, and can you with this kind of legislation? Will that enable you to do something about it?
Sir, something has to be done.