Evidence of meeting #35 for Justice and Human Rights in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was process.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
With regard to the numbers coming in from foreign jurisdictions, in total since 1978 we've only had 28?
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
You make this distinction that some are complicated, in that we're not sure whether they would fit into the first-degree murder category in Canada, depending on how they were categorized in the foreign jurisdiction. Who determines whether in fact it falls into that category?
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
Normally what happens when we get those cases is our sentence administration staff and our legal staff then will work together to see if there is a parallel sentence.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Of the 28 who came in, do you have any idea of how long they served in the foreign jurisdiction before they were transferred?
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
I do not have that information available right now, no.
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
We'd have to go back and go through the files individually to find that information manually. We don't have that as an automated field that we could readily pull.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
I would ask you to do that and provide it to the clerk of the committee so she can circulate it.
Madame Pelletier, you make the one note, in response to a question you got at the Senate, that the judicial review decision—what was the word? The use you make of that is minimal. Could you tell me how minimal? Why would that not weigh fairly heavily in your mind, given that you've had both a judge and a jury look at the situation?
Executive Vice-Chairperson, National Parole Board
Right. Essentially what happens is if that information from the judicial review process is available to the board members, they will consider that information along with the rest of the file information as well.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Let me interrupt, because I know we're short on time. Do you see the entire documentation that has gone before the judicial review?
Executive Vice-Chairperson, National Parole Board
Not necessarily. In some cases, this information will be shared and in others it will not.
Executive Vice-Chairperson, National Parole Board
It's the information we're provided from the Correctional Service that the board members will see.
Executive Vice-Chairperson, National Parole Board
We don't always, that's right. Just to clarify it, when that information is available to board members, they will obviously take it into consideration along with the rest of the information they have on file from various sources.
Conservative
Conservative
Brent Rathgeber Conservative Edmonton—St. Albert, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for your attendance and for your testimony.
Mr. Head, I have sort of a technical question to start out with. You indicated that with respect to 135 offenders, 68 had no issue, 35 were released on early parole, 35 received a suspension but were not subsequently revoked, and 23 had parole revocation. Do the words “revocation” and “suspension” mean the same in this legislation and the mechanics as they do in normal English parlance?
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
Our staff can suspend an offender if they consider there's some legitimate reason to do so, so a belief that they're not abiding by their conditions of release. Then over a 30-day period there has to be a determination as to whether that suspension will continue and then lead to a review by the parole board for review for revocation, and revocation would be the parole board pulling back the release and the offender then going back into the penitentiary.
Conservative
Brent Rathgeber Conservative Edmonton—St. Albert, AB
So they are returned to custody if their parole is suspended....
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
Yes.
Normally what happens if somebody is suspended is they'll either come back into a federal institution or into a provincial facility, depending on where they're located, until this assessment is done. If they're revoked, then they do come back into the federal penitentiary.
