Public Safety Committee on May 10th, 2018

[Anne Kelly]

Yes, certainly, we could look at it.

In terms of what you've seen at the Edmonton Institution for Women, I do believe we offer different programs at different institutions. It's not just sewing, doing nails, or cutting hair. Some women learn to build houses as well. We've had that at the Fraser Valley Institution. We definitely want to provide women with vocational training that's going to be transferable to the community.

On the earlier question you posed, employment for offenders is a priority for us. We want to keep them productively occupied so they don't get into trouble and so they acquire skills they can apply in the community. Research has shown, as well as our own statistics, that if offenders have a job when they are released into the community, they are less likely to come back to the institution.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Yes, I heard that as well. The biggest indicator for success on the outside was successful work release when an offender was inside. Thank you for that.

We had a little conversation with the minister earlier about the funding that's gone into addressing vulnerable offenders, and that includes people who have mental health issues. I heard it at Edmonton maximum security institution, but also at other places, that if there is one single thing corrections could do to deal with issues in the prisons, it is to deal with fetal alcohol syndrome. I'm wondering what steps you're taking, when an offender first comes into corrections, to identify that it's FASD, and what programming there is within corrections to deal with fetal alcohol syndrome.

[Anne Kelly]

Certainly, an investment has been made in mental health. We screen offenders when they arrive at intake. I would have to check on fetal alcohol syndrome, but I believe some studies were done.

Fraser, do you have anything more?

[Chief Superintendent Fraser Macaulay, Acting Senior Deputy Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada]

The Senate committee has done a review.

[Anne Kelly]

We need to look at treating offenders who come in with FASD.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

It's challenging for both the offender and the staff to deal with. If we can deal with it effectively and make those investments, we can hopefully have more success for the people who are coming into corrections, but also not putting the people who work there at risk, and making sure we have a good outcome for everyone involved. Thank you for that.

Another thing that has come up is healing lodges. We have four that are funded and managed by CSC, and we have five that are managed by communities. I know that the ones managed by communities receive less funding than the ones managed by corrections. I'm wondering if there are any plans to reduce this discrepancy to make sure that community-managed healing lodges receive funding that's more comparable to what the CSC-run lodges are receiving.

[Anne Kelly]

With the healing lodges that are managed by the community, it's actually a collaborative process. We negotiate with the community, and there are a number of factors we look at. Just recently, we negotiated an agreement with Waseskun in Quebec. We've also renewed the agreements with the Native Counselling Services of Alberta for the Stan Daniels and the Buffalo Sage centres. Actually, as I've told this committee before, we've revised our framework and the feedback is very positive. However, it's a collaborative process, and an agreement is reached.

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Okay, thank you.

I have only about a minute left. Commissioner Lucki, we were talking earlier about what you are doing in terms of recruitment of indigenous officers, and I was quite impressed with what you were telling me. I just wonder if you could share that with the committee.

[Commr Brenda Lucki]

Most people think that our recruiting efforts are concentrated in the big centres, but we have found that the best recruiting is by our own members, so we have people placed within each province to recruit. We go to schools. When there are hockey tournaments at certain ages, we go there because there are certain types of activities that seem to attract the people who might want to look into policing.

In Regina, which is a big recruiter, the academy provides opportunities. We have the aboriginal leadership conference, where we choose youth from all over Canada who come and do a week of training strictly for indigenous people. We also have another program where one indigenous youth and a member of the detachment come together. They're exposed to the academy, but they're also working together to solve community issues.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you. I appreciate Commissioner Lucki's looking at the chair so that I'm not having to cut people off.

Mr. Davies, you have seven minutes, please.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank you for your kind indulgence in terms of the order.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Were you looking at your yearbook?

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Actually, I was scrumming behind the minister, and he proved the adage that one should never use 10 words when a thousand may work.

The government has announced $81 million over five years toward the passenger protect program. Part of that is to implement a redress system like the one Canadian airlines already use for flights between Canada and the U.S.

I have two questions. First, how much of these funds will be directed toward the redress system? Second, how much is the establishment of the appeal process referred to in Bill C-59 expected to cost?

[Malcolm Brown]

I don't have the figures here, but we can get that for you.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Would you mind sending that to the clerk, please?

[Malcolm Brown]

I'd be happy to do that.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

The government has also indicated plans to implement a new cybercrimes unit within the RCMP. Are we expecting a government bill in relation to this unit? Are there any details in terms of when and how this will be set up?

[Malcolm Brown]

No, I don't think any legislation is required.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Okay.

Can you update us on when we might expect that unit to be set up, and any other progress we're making in that regard?

[Malcolm Brown]

The budget request is in, so we're waiting for Parliament to express its opinions on authorizing the funds. There are a range of issues in the cyber initiative that are seeking Treasury Board approval. We're working with the RCMP on that, so I'll turn to Brenda about the specifics.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Commissioner Lucki, go ahead.

[Commr Brenda Lucki]

We intend to set up a cybercrime coordination unit so that things can be funnelled through one area. Because the borders are limitless, we need a standardized approach where we can deal with all the different crimes. It's a five-year plan. The coordination centre will have investigative capacity as well.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

The 2018-19 estimates for the RCMP include an increase in funding of $517.9 million in support of a new funding model. Could you elaborate on what the government means by this new model and what is incurring most of these costs?

[Commr Brenda Lucki]

I'll try to answer that. The $517 million is on the contract side, and it's a technical one-time adjustment. It has been approved by the Treasury Board, and it's changing how we collect the revenues that are given to us, the money we are collecting. In effect, it's cost-neutral. There is really no change. It's just the way we did it in prior years, the timing of it, so it's a cost-neutral type of collection.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

I'll now turn to the corrections side of CBSA. There are currently nine healing lodges for indigenous offenders in Canada. Four are funded and managed by the Correctional Service of Canada, while five are funded by CSC but managed by communities.

Are there any plans to expand the number of healing lodges, as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?