Thank you so much for coming to meet with us today.
My first question has to do with trauma and substance abuse, and counselling around that. I would love to ask you questions with regard to preventative measures, because there are far too many people, period, in correctional facilities in Canada, but definitely far too many women. I understand that the scope of your report doesn't go into prevention, really. It deals with the system as it exists today.
That said, Mr. Ferguson, my question is based on the recommendations that are provided in the report. I'm wondering if you can elaborate a bit more in terms of access to substance abuse treatment or trauma counselling for female inmates.
Ms. McCalla actually came to the status of women committee a number of weeks ago. During her time there, one of the things she brought up was that incidents of physical and sexual abuse are very high among these women. They themselves have experienced trauma and have had crimes committed against them in their lifetime, which may cause them, out of that pain and their background, to then commit further crimes. They themselves have been victims.
What kinds of recommendations are you offering in terms of how best to respond to that fact?