Sure.
The sentencing provisions of the Criminal Code are based on a principle, to some extent, of restraint and that incarceration should be used as a last resort. Then it's a matter of sorting out when that last resort has been reached. The recent experience has been growth in the prevalence of individuals in the correctional system that have a diagnosed significant mental health disorder. There is also an increase in the prevalence of those people who become ill while they are incarcerated. The criminal justice system is trying to sort out your question right now. We're seeing it with debates about the “not criminally responsible” provision. We're seeing it with evaluations of mental health courts. There is a general recognition that prisons should not become asylums, and we should not be criminalizing people's ill health. That does not take us away from the fact that some people who are mentally ill also come into conflict with the law.
Your question is exactly the focus of a tremendous amount of attention within the criminal justice system right now. I have been involved with training and explorations with police, judges, prosecutors, and correctional system operators to address exactly that. How do we stream people into options other than carceral options, and whose job is that?