Public Safety Committee on Dec. 8th, 2011

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

That is one of the new ones, that's right, under our government. Thank you.

[Dr. Jan Looman]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Go ahead, Mr. Aspin.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Dr. Looman, my question is basically about drug or gang activity. You've touched a bit on the drug subculture and how it's often associated with gang activity and violence. In your opinion, would you say that gang activity is in large part responsible for the control of drugs entering prisons in Canada?

[Dr. Jan Looman]

Probably. Yes.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

We've heard that the prices for contraband cigarettes, etc., are incredibly high due to scarcity. Can you just elaborate on that? What are the driving factors for gangs in prisons in relation to the drug trade?

[Dr. Jan Looman]

I'm not sure what you're asking.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Could you just elaborate on the driving factors?

[Dr. Jan Looman]

It's money and control, just as it is in the community. The drug trade in prisons is very lucrative.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

So it's related to scarcity.

[Dr. Jan Looman]

It is scarcity and demand. If I'm the leader of a gang that controls the flow of drugs in an institution, it makes me a lot of money.

[Jay Aspin, Conservative, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Mr. Aspin.

Mr. Sandhu, did you have a question?

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

No, thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Scarpaleggia, did you have anything else that you wanted to bring out?

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

No, not really.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

He's been gracious enough to give us a few more minutes, and I wanted to make sure that if anyone else had a question we'd get to hear it.

All right, if there are no other questions, thank you for being here today. In the prisons, the whole mental health issue ties in with the drug dependency issue. We thank you for your input and your recommendations. Thank you for coming, and have a safe trip back to Kingston.

[Dr. Jan Looman]

Thank you for inviting me.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

All right.

We are going to suspend momentarily. We will come back in two or three minutes in camera. We want to discuss a little bit about the upcoming report.

[Proceedings continue in camera]