Good morning, colleagues.
Welcome. This is meeting number 10 of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, on Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Again today we're continuing our study of drugs and alcohol in prisons.
For our guests, we are studying a number of components of that. It's not just drugs in prison. It's a study of how drugs and alcohol enter our prisons and the impacts they have on the rehabilitation of offenders, the safety of correctional officers, and basically on crime in general within our institutions.
This morning we have two witnesses who have travelled from the Yukon to testify before us. Our committee appreciates very much the time and effort our witnesses have already spent to be with us here today. Your committee is proud to have an in-person testimony by witnesses from one of the more remote parts of our great country.
Tony Van De Mortel is a correctional officer at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.
Ken Putnam is a retired member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police following 33 years of service. He then worked as an investigator for the Yukon Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods units, which focused on illegal drug dealing, prostitution, and bootlegging operations. He continued to work with SCAN, which expanded its role to conduct inspections and standards of the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.
Again, your committee is grateful for your long service there and on this issue.
I would invite each of you to make your opening statements before we turn to questions from members of our committee.
Perhaps we will begin with correctional officer Van De Mortel, if you wouldn't mind.
Welcome.