Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before the committee.
I attend on behalf of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, an association of 26 members who work with and on behalf of marginalized, victimized, criminalized, and institutionalized women and girls throughout the country. As many of you know, we provide services that range from early intervention for those who have been victimized right through to and including prison resettlement and after-care programs. My presentation will be very brief.
While the legislation provides an opportunity to shine a light on a very important issue, an issue that is underscored by some horrible tragedies that have been experienced by Canadians, the reality is that beyond that, there is a consensus that applying a new label of “high risk” will not be particularly helpful, and that unless there are additional resources to ensure there are supports in place to assist individuals who are given that label, they will likely end up with an unnecessarily long period of being incarcerated, or institutionalized—my apologies—in centres that will not necessarily be able to provide the sort of treatment that needs to be provided to individuals who have been labelled “not criminally responsible”.
We would hate to see a return to the asylums of the past or to institutionalized settings in which people remain for very long periods with limited review processes and few opportunities to access the treatment they require. We think it has implications for many others who might not necessarily be labelled as not criminally responsible, but might be identified as high risk.
I have several examples of those, and I'd be happy to talk more about that in answer to questions. That in sum is our submission.
Thank you.