Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, Minister, and thank you for being here.
Thanks to all of you, gentlemen, for being here.
I would like to talk to you about Canada's Correctional Service. There was a report, of which I'm sure you are aware, published in October 2007, that provided a bit of a snapshot of the Correctional Service. The Correctional Service acknowledged, in a way, that there was an increase in the number of street gang members being held in federal penitentiaries, which is logical in view of the large numbers of arrests and sentences.
I also have information to the effect that there is only one super maximum security penitentiary in Canada and that, of course, it is in Quebec, and that there are no maximum security institutions in certain provinces. So when an inmate who is a member of a street gang commits violent acts at a penitentiary, you know his security rating increases. If that person has a medium security classification, for example, and he attacks another inmate or staff member, his security classification can therefore be increased to “maximum” or “super maximum”, depending whether or not there has been a homicide. So these street gang members can be transferred to other penitentiaries whose security classification becomes their own. However, there are no “maximum” or “super maximum” institutions in certain provinces. Members of street gangs are therefore transferred between provinces or between penitentiaries.
I don't think that's a very effective measure in the fight against street gangs because all it does is enable dangerous men to contact other members in other provinces and, thus, to expand their network across Canada.
The interprovincial transfer of inmates involving solely—and I mean solely—the members of street gangs or organized crime members is becoming a way for these individuals to create networks and links with other provinces and other members of gangs or organized crime belonging to other provinces in other penitentiaries.
First, have you taken an interest in this phenomenon? Second, since you are somewhat reworking the penitentiary system, will that be one of the considerations in managing members of street gangs at Canadian penitentiaries?