Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The committee will have to consider important bills over the coming weeks and months. Thank you for having me again this morning as part of the study of the bill on drug-free federal prisons.
Once again, I want to thank committee members for inviting me here today to discuss this important legislation, the drug-free prisons act.
The bill before you today aims to provide the Parole Board of Canada with new tools. That body has to ensure that prisoners stop using drugs, be it in the prison system or in the community—for instance, when they are on parole. Mr. Chair, it is important to understand that the objective of Canadian correctional services is rehabilitation. The idea is to take into consideration an inmate's situation when they are incarcerated and be able to provide them with tools that will help them reintegrate into society in a constructive manner.
In order to assist us in our deliberations on this important bill, I am pleased to be joined by the assistant deputy minister, Kathy Thompson; the commissioner of Correctional Service of Canada, Don Head; and Harvey Cenaiko, the chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada. On behalf of all of us, I thank them for their important work to keep us safe.
As the committee members know, the sale and use of drugs in our penitentiaries is not a new problem or one that is easy to resolve. We must first recognize that a problem exists and take steps to understand its pervasiveness and be able to eradicate it.
Approximately 75% of inmates entering federal prisons have a history of drug or alcohol use. This means that 15 out of every 20 inmates will require some sort of substance abuse programming as part of their correctional plan.
In order to correct these behaviours, one of the biggest problems we need to resolve is the fact that drugs and other contraband continue to enter and circulate in our correctional institutions.
While it seems logical that prisons should be free from drugs, the problem persists. Every year, our correctional officers work to remove these illegal drugs. In fiscal year 2013-14, we saw 2,406 drug-related seizures in federal prisons. The rate of seizures has been steadily increasing since our Conservative government was elected.
Over the past few years, our government has invested in measures that help correctional services control the smuggling of drugs into our federal prisons.
In our economic action plan 2008, we allocated $122 million to help develop a tougher approach to drug interdiction in our federal prisons.
Correctional Service Canada has expanded its drug detector dog program, which I have had an opportunity to look at. The agency has strengthened its ability to obtain security intelligence in institutions, increased the number of offenders under supervision in communities and helped establish stronger partnerships among law enforcement agencies.
Building on those significant investments, we have taken strong legislative actions to place a greater emphasis on offender accountability.
That is the goal of the Safe Streets and Communities Act. This piece of legislation adds a legal obligation to establish a correctional plan that encompasses a wide range of elements, including drug addiction. As soon as inmates start serving their sentence, we want to equip them with tools that will help them reintegrate into society free of addiction to alcohol or drugs.
That important bill also established tough mandatory sentences for those caught trying to sell drugs on prison grounds.
However, there is still work to be done. The bill on drug-free prisons will constitute another legislative tool for dealing with this ongoing problem.
It will be part of our ongoing efforts. In 2011, our Conservative government made a commitment to Canadians to work to eradicate drugs from behind bars. We will ensure that every federal inmate will undergo drug testing at least once a year, that every federal inmate who is found to be in possession of illicit substances will face appropriate additional charges, and that any parole applicant who fails a drug test will be denied parole.
We are already seeing progress when it comes to the first two points. Correctional Service Canada has taken decisive action to help honour the commitment to subject each inmate to testing annually.
Urinalysis to detect levels is a key measure for corrections staff. To this end, the CSC increased its monthly random urine testing from 5% to 8% of inmates and then, in April 2013, from 8% to 10%.
This approach has yielded concrete results. In 2013-14, correctional services carried out more than 16,000 urine analyses in prisons—a 114% increase over 2011-12.
As our government increased testing and enforcement, the logical results followed. The percentages of positive tests and refusals have declined, which indicates that the availability of drugs has substantially decreased. This progress is the result of our government's strong actions.
Furthermore, CSC is working to fulfill our second commitment. CSC is now taking the commonsensical step of automatically referring cases of drug possession to law enforcement for appropriate action. As well, efforts are under way to impose tougher institutional fines on inmates found guilty of disciplinary offences; so if you are caught with a positive test in a penitentiary, you will face the consequences.
Our government is currently considering a regulatory reform that will be necessary to increase those charges. The Drug-Free Prisons Act will help us fulfill the third commitment from our 2011 platform—denying parole to applicants who fail a drug test. You can understand the logic behind this, Mr. Chair. Our goal is rehabilitation. We want inmates who still have substance abuse problems to benefit from the available rehabilitation programs and break free from their addiction before being released.
To do this, we are proposing two amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act that are meant to provide additional legal tools to the Parole Board of Canada, which is represented here this morning by its chairperson, Mr. Cenaiko.
First, this bill would ensure that the Parole Board has the explicit authority to cancel parole after it is granted if an offender fails or refuses to take a urine test before he or she is released.
If an offender fails their drug test or refuses to participate, Correctional Service Canada would have to pass that information on to the Parole Board of Canada. That information would enable the board to review its decision, if it deemed it necessary.
Second, the bill would clarify the parole board's authority to apply a special condition that requires offenders to abstain from using drugs and alcohol once they are released on parole.
This authority is another important tool for fighting against illicit drug use and breaking the crime cycle beyond the bars of our prisons.
If offenders do not abide by these conditions, their parole can be immediately revoked.
Those two changes will help put more emphasis on offenders' responsibility. The ball will be in their court in order to help each and every one of them take control of their condition.
That is exactly what we promised Canadians in the last election and we are proud to deliver.
Mr. Chair, our Conservative government has a credible plan for tackling the issue of drugs in our prisons.
The challenge we are facing is complex, Mr. Chair.
Drugs are illegal in our penitentiaries, but we have to face this reality and take steps to eradicate it. We have used three measures to do this since we took office. Two of those measures have already been implemented. This morning, with the committee's support, we will be able to adopt a third measure, which is part of our commitment to eliminating the presence of drugs in our prisons.
I am now available to answer any questions.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
