I think one of the things that resonated with me when we listened to the information from the Correctional Service of Canada is that we lack even the mechanisms and frameworks to be able to look at how offenders could pay.
Again, I think we need to make sure that we have mechanisms in place, that there are frameworks that allow us to do that. It would appear that we can't even get comprehensive data on how many awards there are, who has them, where they're held, and those kinds of things.
I balanced my comments and did share with you the point about whether there is a willingness to participate in that. That's why I referred to that example of a program in the United States, the inmate financial responsibility program there. Having that in place and teaching those skills can go way beyond that, once an offender is back in the community.
I recognize some of the comments from one of the members here in my saying that at the end of the day these are debts that are owed. It is about responsibility and accountability.
We just have to put in place a longer term view around that. Again, we may be able to be deal with it quickly, but it may also require a longer term. We need to be thinking about those things.
I'll go back to the actual recommendations in the report. When you look at our recommendations, I think it's mainly an issue of having a framework in place that's going to allow us to monitor and to be accountable for everything from the federal victims surcharge through to restitution orders. But we also need to look comprehensively at these issues in our country around restitution and tangible financial supports for victims.