Madames et monsieurs, honourable members, I'm very pleased to be able to address this committee on behalf of the Ottawa Drug Treatment Court. My name is James Budd, and I'm a Senior Director with Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services, which provides the treatment to the Ottawa Drug Treatment Court.
We offer a very unusual program in drug treatment courts. It's a unique feature not only within the treatment world but within the corrections world. Treatment is very intensive and very regular. Participants in the Ottawa Drug Treatment Court attend the treatment centre on a daily basis. They appear in court at least once a week, and at the beginning they appear twice a week before the judge.
They are held accountable for any problems they may have had in terms of their participation or attendance or other issues in the community, but they are also rewarded and encouraged for their successes in the program. The interaction with the judge is really a key feature of drug treatment courts. They literally have a chat with the judge every week and talk about how they're doing. It helps to forge a whole new relationship with the criminal justice system. They start to see the courts as helpers instead of punishers.
I'm going to keep my comments very brief, because I suspect that you'll have a fair number of questions for us. So perhaps I'll leave it at that.