Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I was wondering if your French was still improving, and I can confirm that.
Auditor General, ladies, welcome to your House of Commons.
I want to begin by congratulating you, Ms. Kelly, on your 35 years of service with the same organization. I did not know that 10-year-olds were being hired at the time, but so much the better. Welcome.
Through you, I want to recognize and congratulate the thousands of Canadians working in the prison system. If there is a difficult sector, be it in terms of daily life or family life, it is that of prisons. We have to pay a great deal of respect to those thousands of Canadians who ensure the safety of our cities and communities. I thank those people. Allow me also to recognize a deceased childhood friend, Michel Gagnon, who spent nearly 20 years with Correctional Service Canada, in Cowansville. I take this opportunity to salute Michel, his widow Lucie and their daughter, Marie-Pierre.
Mr. Ferguson, your document highlights the fact that 36% of female inmates are indigenous. That phenomenon is drawing a great deal of interest. We won't talk about the reasons why those people end up in prison, since that lies upstream of Correctional Service's mandate. That said, I would like to know what goes on inside. Things are not just black or white, but some issues are deserving of our attention. Earlier, you said the following:
However, we found that CSC increased the use of section 84 release plans for indigenous women offenders, under which indigenous organizations or communities are part of the reintegration process. Indigenous offenders with these release plans are more likely to be granted parole than other indigenous offenders.
As I understand your analysis, for the system to work, the correctional centre must be located close to an aboriginal community. Is that so?