Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the minister and the officials who are appearing before us.
Mr. Chair, as you know, much of this committee's time has been drawn, from time to time, at least, on the cost and the difference between what the Parliamentary Budget Officer has forecast and what in fact we have heard from people like Mr. Head, who has a very good grasp about what the cost is to run the prisons.
Mr. Chair, I think we heard the Parliamentary Budget Officer and his staff indicate a cost of something in excess of $300,000 per inmate, and that was based on some assumptions that he had built into his model. I'm just wondering if Mr. Head could tell the committee, Mr. Chair, what in fact the actual costs are for inmates in the Correctional Service of Canada facilities. I think there is a significant difference. I read an article in one of the papers this week by an independent academic who suggested that the Parliamentary Budget Officer's assumptions were way off, and as a result, based on his assumptions, his final tallies don't accurately depict the cost. I'm wondering if Mr. Head could give us those actuals as opposed to what we have here.