Public Safety Committee on Oct. 20th, 2011

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Thank you very much, gentlemen, for joining us today.

Welcome to Mr. McLauchlan, who's new to joining us here during this study.

Thank you very much for the schematic, because it shows in great detail the high level of organization and complexity that goes on in the federal prisons to bring drugs into the institutions.

So far, quite a bit of the study has really been focused on treatment and rehabilitative needs. I do like CSC's three-pronged approach with prevention, treatment, and interdiction. Certainly I think everybody on the committee has agreed that rehabilitative efforts and treatment are an essential element to corrections in Canada. But it almost appears as though we've forgotten about the level of complexity and organization that would go, in my opinion, beyond just somebody who is a victim to circumstances in life and who finds himself addicted and into pain management and those sorts of things. We are now seeing a growing concern with criminal organizations, gangs, and criminal choice, which is feeding a huge part of our problem within the institutions.

Are we having a tough time balancing this focus on treatment of addictions with the absolute need to deal with people who are making criminal choices in a criminal organization? What kind of relationship is that creating between staff and inmates?

Staff, as you know, are trying to really deliver that front-line program delivery, be that direct supervision or working and living with these inmates every day, but then having to really focus, at the same time, on slowing down this criminal organization and criminal choice versus a truly “addicted” concern, where rehabilitation would be necessary.

[Don Head]

I think there is a significant challenge for the staff. It is a balancing act in terms of dealing with those individuals who are prepared to address their problems, the problems that have brought them into conflict with the law, and in this case problems with substance abuse, versus those who continue to be involved in an underground economy, a criminal activity, within the institution.

That's one of the reasons why we've structured ourselves around that three-pronged approach. It allows us to have the capacity to help those who have come to a realization that they need to get their lives in order. They want to participate in programs and they want to change things around. At the same time, we have the capacity--with, for example, Mr. McLauchlan, security intelligence officers, our drug-detector dog teams, even our front-line correction officers--to deal with those who are still actively involved in criminal activity or are bringing drugs into the institution.

So it is an ongoing balancing act, at times more challenging than at other times. Mr. McLauchlan can talk about some of the significant challenges coming from an institution where there are significant aboriginal gangs who are constantly involved in trying to bring drugs into the institution.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

To Mr. McLauchlan, have you experienced occasions when inmates have specifically asked you or staff working under you to really get a handle on the drug situation, to find great strategies to stop it from coming in, to intervene on that flow from outside and inside, to relieve pressure on their family members, to relieve pressure on themselves? Have you experienced inmates directly coming to you and asking you to please intervene?

[Christer McLauchlan, Security Intelligence Officer, Stony Mountain Institution, Correctional Service of Canada]

Absolutely. We have individuals who come to us because they're already in trouble and they're looking for our assistance in dealing with that, whether they've already brought drugs into the institution or they're being pressured to do so. We deal with that from our security intelligence standpoint. We utilize the information they provide and we try to assist them and combat the drugs coming in.

I personally have been approached generally by inmates who say “I wish you could help stop the drugs coming into this institution. I'm an addict, and if I have these drugs available to me, I am going to use them.” I've actually had inmates say they wished we could do more to stop the drugs coming in.

So yes, I definitely have experienced that myself.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Mr. Leef. Unfortunately, your time has expired.

Mr. Sandhu.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Thank you for being here today again.

I mentioned on Tuesday in this committee that it's very difficult to look at the impact of drugs and alcohol in prisons in isolation. We're finding out that it's a complex system, where drugs are part of the prison community.

Rehabilitation, access to programs, the spread of disease, mental illness, and the safety of prisoners or guards are all part of the problem with drugs in prisons. I think the goal of our committee is to improve public safety, which I think any study of our committee should be. I think it's clear that we need to consider a balanced approach that includes rehabilitation and interdiction programs.

I keep hearing from the government members about having drug-free institutions. I think that's a great idea and would like to see that. My question is to the commissioner. Is that possible? How realistic is it?

[Don Head]

I know it comes with challenges, but I believe it is possible. Just to give you an example, in some of our institutions we have offenders who are looking to get away from the subculture that Mr. McLauchlan was talking about. I have worked actively with the staff to create drug-free ranges in the institutions.

For example, in Mr. McLauchlan's institution there is the Pathways unit for aboriginal offenders to be able to follow an aboriginal healing path. We can do urinalysis of offenders on a random basis if we suspect they may be involved in drugs, but in this unit the offenders agree to submit voluntarily to urinalysis to show that they continually want to lead a drug-free life. If we are able to stop the drugs coming in, as Mr. McLauchlan has talked about, and create a safe environment, we'll get more offenders who will want to address their criminogenic needs that brought them into conflict.

So the more I can create those opportunities, the closer I'm going to get to a drug-free prison. I believe it's possible, but it has challenges.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

If the supply of drugs is not there, will you require more treatment programs for the prisoners to get them off the habit?

[Don Head]

That's part of the challenge, because 80% of offenders who come in have had some kind of substance abuse problem some time in their lives. Just over half of the individuals who come into our system were under the influence of a substance at the time they committed their offence. So we have to work with them to get them involved and motivated to take the program.

As we shut down the drugs coming in, we need to make sure we have the interventions, programs, and services so they can get their lives in order and ultimately return to communities in a way that it's not going to jeopardize Canadians.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Even though I have a hard time believing it, and stats would back that up, I would like to see drug-free prisons. I doubt we'll get there. What sorts of resources would you require?

[Don Head]

Continuing to support us along the three prongs of prevention, treatment, and interdiction is what's needed. When the government injected $122 million into the organization a few years ago to help us combat the issue of drugs, we saw a decrease--not to zero--in positive urinalyses. We saw an increase in the number of seizures. At the same time, we received an infusion of money for increasing the number of programs we delivered in our institution.

So we're seeing some positive outcomes associated with that, but we need to continue to maintain that financial base in order to produce positive results.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

I want to ask the question again. If we were to get to zero tolerance or zero drugs in prisons, you would need money for interdiction and rehabilitation programs. How much would you need from the government?

[Don Head]

I can't put an exact figure on that, but the zone we're in now is helping us to move in the right direction. Unfortunately, I just can't give you a dollar figure today.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Would you say there would be a time when you would get diminishing returns on the amount of money you're spending on interdiction?

[Don Head]

I wouldn't necessarily say that. Offenders have multiple needs when they come into the system. They are always going to look at approaches or things offenders will look at to try to satisfy some kind of need. It's going to be an ongoing challenge.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Let me get this correct. You're telling this committee that if we give you x amount of money, you will have drug-free prisons.

[Don Head]

I'm saying that's the direction I will continue to move in.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Mr. Sandhu.

We'll now move to Mr. Aspin.

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

Thank you, Chair.

Welcome, gentlemen. We appreciate your expertise and your help in our work with this committee.

A few weeks ago a particular individual from the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies who testified indicated that strip-searching inmates in order to look for contraband was tantamount to state-sponsored sexual assault. Mr. McLauchlan, as someone who works on the front lines of keeping contraband out of institutions, could you comment on the necessity of strip searches as a tool for interdicting contraband?

[Christer McLauchlan]

Certainly.

Obviously when people are attempting to introduce drugs into the institution or to conceal drugs within the institution, they're going to use any means available to them to prevent us from finding those drugs. They're very rarely going to have the drugs just sitting in their pocket where a frisk search is going to find them.

The fact of the matter is that strip searches are necessary in some cases. The Corrections and Conditional Release Act is very restrictive about when we can do the strip searches. We have to have reasonable grounds to believe the individual is in possession of contraband. We also have to have reasonable grounds to believe that the strip search is necessary in order to find those drugs. Finally, we have to convince our institutional head that a strip search is necessary in this particular case. It is not like we're just doing these searches on visitors on a whim.

In regard to routine strip searches of the inmates, again, the CCRA gives us the right to do those in particular cases. I would certainly disagree with any characterization of these as any type of sexual assault. These are a necessary tool to deal with the presence of contraband coming into our institutions.

[Don Head]

If I could just add something as well, I don't know if you have the pictures in your package, but on the third page, at the bottom, you'll see a series of five packages of drugs. These were drugs that were internally concealed. If we can't do those strip searches, that amount of drugs inside my institution is going to lead to violence and is going to lead to somebody dying.

If we did not have the ability under law to do the strip searches, not just willy-nilly but following some very strict procedures, and those drugs had gotten into my institution, somebody would have died.

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

Thank you. That is reassuring.

If I may continue briefly, as my colleague Mr. Leef indicated, we are really appreciative of this chart on the subculture model. Mr. Head, could you just briefly describe the key elements of this chart, just so I have the right interpretation?

[Don Head]

I'll actually give Mr. McLauchlan the opportunity. He does these kinds of charts on a daily basis. I can explain it, but he lives these every single day.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Do so very quickly, because time is limited.

[Christer McLauchlan]

You're looking at several different aspects. You'll have a drug leader who won't necessarily involve himself directly in bringing the drugs into the institution, although he will involve his community contacts. He might be talking to his wife to make arrangements for things to be dropped off.

Obviously somebody in the community is going to have to get those drugs, whether they're doing it because they're being muscled or whether they're doing it because they're getting money themselves. It could be girlfriends. They're going to have to have contact with drug suppliers on the outside.

Those drugs are then going to have to get in somehow, and they could get in with an inmate work gang, for instance. That's a group of individuals who are working out in the community. There could be pressure to have a family member of an inmate bring them into the institution. There might be staff corruption, simply paying enough money to have a staff member bring those drugs in.

It could be done through a transfer by an individual who goes to a program at an adjacent minimum security institution, for instance, and then returns to the medium security institution.

This is actually a relatively simple model. I've had much more complex models of actual drug transactions, but they usually involve multiple individuals in the community and within the institution. It's very rare that we'll see one person bringing drugs in just for their own personal use.