Thank you, Mr. Goguen, and thank you for all your hard work on this file and others.
I will come back to an earlier question from Mr. Casey on this. The designation of high-risk offender gives the system, hence the provincial and territorial authorities we work with and those who are tasked daily to work with individuals who have been found either responsible or not criminally responsible but have committed acts of violence.... We believe this puts further emphasis on the protection of the public and allows for greater discretion as to the length of treatment for individuals—and I want to be very clear that we are talking about continuing the treatment options for individuals found not criminally responsible—held in a secure mental health facility as opposed to a penal facility. Putting the protection of the public and the victim at the centre of this process is what we seek to achieve.
It also creates this high-risk designation, which some might say stigmatizes, but it is akin to the dangerous offender designation that applies in the regular criminal law system. This high-risk offender designation is separate from other designations of not criminally responsible. It says that this individual, because of the act committed and because of the psychiatric assessment that has been done, poses such a risk to the public or themselves—and let's not forget that is very often part of a risk calculation—that they will require perhaps longer treatment and a more rigorous examination by the provincial and territorial review boards responsible for determining the time of their release. I truly believe that de-stigmatizes others who don't have and don't carry that high-risk designation.