You didn't hear this, but I wrote a major book on the effectiveness of the prison parole system. It's somewhat dated, but the data is used on the website of the Correctional Service of Canada, and I've certainly stayed in touch with the material on what is effective in terms of reducing recidivism.
My major point is that we have to start with the reasonable needs of victims. I think it's reasonable to go the way that the U.S. is going or the way the European Union is going in saying that victims basically have a right to restitution, and we have to work out the best way to do that restitution from the offender.
In addition, you may.... I don't think your other witnesses have referred to the evaluations of restorative justice. Now, restorative justice sounds like a soft option, but you have many parents of murdered children in Canada who see that as the right way to deal with the issues.
I'm a researcher. I look at the evidence. Yes, I have a particular interest in the victim issue, and the evaluations of restorative justice show that when you do it right, not only is the victim happier, because they're more empowered and have all sorts of options to ask for things—to get information, to get truth, and to get a feeling of what's going on—but it also reduces recidivism.