I would say that it's as much about the risks for government. It was more a note of caution to say that since the aboriginal population unfortunately is disproportionately represented in the prison population, any program would need very strong engagement with the aboriginal leadership of Canada if it were to stand any chance of success, given the history of mistrust, the history of abuse, and the current focus on reconciliation around the residential schools.
I know that it has been discussed as the aboriginal population being a main focus of it. I would almost advise to focus on a non-aboriginal population initially, where there's less at risk and there's less mistrust. That was really my main comment.
I would say with respect to your opening comments that this is obviously something that is in the early stages. The Peterborough program reported out in 2010 and reported real success, but I would also argue that there's too much at stake to not do something in this area when our reoffending rates are 75% to 90% in this system. It can continue as it is, but the system is fundamentally broken if the goal is rehabilitation of prisoners.
We have to try something. The conventional solutions are simply not working. If there's scope for some form of experimentation here, the Peterborough example shows that with the right kinds of organizations involved, you can demonstrate a dramatic decline in reoffending rates. I think that's worthy of attention and worthy of the federal government's attention.