Thank you to the witnesses and the minister for attending today.
Minister, I'd like to keep things simple. We can throw percentages and numbers and a whole lot of things out there, but my message, and I think your message, isn't to the people sitting in this room or around this table; our message is to the men and women who formulate the population of this country and whose expectation is that when people go to prison, they do not have access to drugs.
In previous committees where this issue has been brought up, the opposition has said that you must be dreaming if you ever hope to eradicate 100% of drugs from prison. I think the answer is that probably not ever will there be a 100%—since we're talking about percentages—drug-free prison. But for members of Parliament, those men and women whom we are very proud of in the correctional service, who help keep us safe and provide the necessary programming to those in our prisons, we have to keep safe, we have to provide them with the ability to help those who are in prison get rid of their addiction.
Would you not agree with me, Minister, that one of the best ways to help people leave their addiction behind is for them to be in a place where they cannot obtain or have access to that very thing, whether it be drugs, alcohol, or tobacco for that matter? Wouldn't that be the best first step?