Well, the impact is huge, obviously. If we want healthy and safe communities, that means we balance them and look after all of the people in our communities. If we, as people involved in the criminal justice system, have a victims lens on it and consider their input and their needs, obviously that's going to be helpful for the families to know.
Here's what we deal with when people come to us. They ask, “Did they even consider the risk and my safety?” They're the same kinds of questions that I know perhaps.... They ask how the decision got made that the offender was being released, either around the block or across the street, in close proximity, and the impact on them....
At least now we're going to have it so that they must have a look at this. They must be proactive. They have to state in writing why they're making these decisions, so that information is going to be available. That means they have to talk with the victims. They have to seek their input about their concerns and their safety. Then they're assured that their safety is being considered. I think this is a hugely important step.
I do have some statistics. For example, I made a recommendation to include and look at the long-term supervision orders. I can tell you that as of April 15, 2012, the courts have imposed 768 long-term supervision orders. Of those, 71% are for a period of 10 years. There are currently 680 offenders with long-term supervision orders. Of these, 463, or 68%, have at least one current conviction for a sexual offence.
I also have data from the Stats Canada report on adult criminal statistics in Canada in 2011-12. In 2011 and 2012, probation was the most common sentence in adult court, at 45%. It says that 45% of the sentences were for probation and 4.6% of sentences were conditional sentences.
They use these numbers, if I have this correct. I do have my research person behind me. Is it 110,885? Would that be the number...?
There is some data available through that. I am quoting a Statistics Canada adult criminal statistics report. There is data around that, but I still want to balance those comments with this: it's really about how a victim of crime proactively knows that their safety is being considered when these decisions on release, particularly back into the community, are being made.