Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As you know, I was a correctional officer for eight and a half years, during which time we had riots. We were responsible for accused who were suspected of committing heinous acts and for other persons. Escape attempts were made.
I see a danger here. People were responsible for keeping other people in prison, whether they were accused, convicted persons, people serving an intermittent sentence or even escorts. As a result of all kinds of circumstances, those individuals were not always in prison. We were also in the civilian world because it also includes people under house arrest. The danger is that, if a person responsible for supervising another persons can receive a stiffer penalty than the one he or she is supervising, that can have an impact on their relationship.
As you know, a convicted individual has rights. The individual in charge of that person has a responsibility to ensure that that person has what belongs to him or her, but also to supervise that individual so that he or she can serve the sentence. If the individual who has that responsibility loses control—whether as a result of negligence, fatigue or any other reason—and risks receiving a harsher sentence than the person who has escaped, the relationship will change. I have seen this. That relationship will be affected because, then, regardless of whether the rights of the person for which he or she is responsible are respected, he or she will be punished more harshly. This is a serious problem. I do not believe an exception is made for that in the armed forces, regardless of the person for whom that individual is responsible.
There have been sanctions in the past. People were negligent in the correctional sector and were punished. However, those punishments were not more severe than those imposed on the Hell's Angels, for example. That would have made no sense.
There is a serious danger that this will have a negative effect on the relationship between those individuals. In that case, would it be desirable to fire on the individual because the supervisor risks receiving an excessively harsh sentence because the prisoner escapes? The person in a position of responsibility would lose control and risk being fired upon. At what point do we encourage a removal of responsibility from the person who has to ensure control, through either a prohibition from acting or any other measure?
I have seen them all. I have not necessarily seen them all in the armed forces, but I have seen all the types of control and responsibility one can have. A person who already has the courage to supervise someone who is potentially dangerous should never run the risk of receiving a harsher sanction than that of the person he or she is supervising.
I am telling you that you are entering very dangerous territory.