I thank you for your question.
The best way to pay tribute to Ashley Smith is to make sure that such an event never happens again in one of our facilities. That is why, as soon as this tragedy occurred, an inquiry was conducted by Correctional Service Canada and immediate steps were taken.
When we realized that there were systemic problems, a strategy was put in place and we announced an action plan.
I would like to share with you an interesting statistic from Correctional Services. Since that tragedy, there were approximately 1,379 interventions involving inmates with acute health problems, in particular persons who injured themselves. In all cases, the purpose of those interventions was to protect the inmates.
That is one direct consequence of the changes made to practices and procedures. That is why we are moving forward with the strategy aimed at assessing an inmate's status as soon as he or she arrives in one of our establishments. This allows us to act in a way that is adapted to the inmate's needs.
Moreover, we are training staff so that they adopt appropriate behaviours. You must understand that Correctional Service agents must sometimes deal with people who have mental health issues. Of course, we have to do preventive work so that these people do not wind up in our establishments. The Department of Public Safety must continue its efforts as must all other levels of government so that social services can take care of these persons.
We intend to take measures in that direction. As I indicated, even though we are working on following up on the recommendations, we have already put measures in place.
If I can reassure you, I will ask the correctional investigator to follow up on the action that has been taken and to follow up on the action plan that is presented and on the report that will be tabled by the end of this year.