Public Safety Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2016

[Don Head]

There is no question.... As I mentioned in my opening comments, at the present level, any further cuts in our organization will have impacts on the public safety results that we're supposed to provide.

On funding for additional mental health capacity, I still would argue that I do not want to be the default mental health system in the country for individuals. That needs to be dealt with in the provinces, in homes, in schools. There are other places to deal with that issue. It should not be in a penitentiary setting. However, until that is resolved, we require funding for mental health and funding for dealing with the disproportionate number of aboriginal offenders that we have in the system right now.

One of the areas where we continue to need funding is in services for women. Although the overall population for federally sentenced women is small, it is the fastest-growing subpopulation that we have. The women offenders who come into our system have greater needs than the men. Getting funding to ensure that we have the right supports is key.

I would also argue, and I just have to squeeze this in, that we need to find a way, as a Canadian society, to put in place the funding in the community to support the offenders when they leave the system. I can do a lot of work with the money that I have, and if you give me more money, I can do more work and provide better results, but the offenders need support when they get released. They need support in terms of family and in terms of jobs; they need support in terms of housing and health care.

Find the funding for that, and you don't have to give me any more money. We'll do the best job we can and feed into a system that will help these people on a path of being law-abiding citizens.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you, Mr. Head.

Mr. Mendicino is next.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I first of all want to include myself in the thanks that have been provided by both the chair and members of the opposition.

My intent is to share some of my time with Ms. Damoff.

I have two questions. The first one focuses on openness and transparency, which is one of the central themes on which we ran and were elected, specifically as they relate to the accessibility of decisions rendered by the Parole Board.

In your presentation, you say that the CCRA requires the board's decisions to be made available to the public on request. To put a finer point on it, it's just not a matter of requesting: there is a legal threshold that has to be reached in order to get access. Is that correct?

[Harvey Cenaiko]

It has to be a written request.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

But there needs to be something more than just an open request. Don't you have to demonstrate an interest in the case?

[Harvey Cenaiko]

Yes, but that—

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

You're saying that requirement is easily met.

[Harvey Cenaiko]

Yes.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

That would explain why 31,700 decisions have been released.

I noticed on the website that there isn't anything resembling a docket listing when cases come up to be heard. Is that true?

[Harvey Cenaiko]

That's true.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Is there something within the statute that prohibits the Parole Board from creating something of a docket so that there is transparency about these cases as they come up?

[Harvey Cenaiko]

That's a good question.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

That's why I'm here. Perhaps that's something that you can take away.

[Harvey Cenaiko]

A legislative change would be required to open up the decision registry.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I was not talking about that in my last question. I'm talking about whether there's something within the act that prohibits there being a docket, so that if the public wishes to see cases as they come up, they can. There's a separate question there about the contents of the decision and so on and so forth.

The hearings themselves are not presumptively open. There also needs to be a request in order to attend. Is that correct?

[Harvey Cenaiko]

There has to be a request, because there is a security clearance check that has to be done for individuals entering into an institution.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Head, my question for you is about radicalization.

As part of our campaign platform, we are going to be creating something called the office of the community outreach and counter-radicalization coordinator. That is a mouthful that we are working on, I understand.

Is that right, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

We don't know.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

There you are.

In any event, it's a very polysyllabic word, and it would be helpful to reduce it.

My question is this: have you encountered within your inmate population this phenomenon of individuals who have been convicted of terrorist activity and those who have not, but for whom there is evidence that they are embarking on this path? Very briefly, what are some of the beginnings of the strategy that you have used within your institutions?

Thank you.

[Don Head]

Yes, this is something we've been examining in detail. We have a few research reports and some research that we have been leading. We currently have 13 individuals who fall under the definition of individuals who have been convicted of terrorist acts. Our population base at this moment is small. We do not have immediate issues with those individuals. We're more concerned about those that are susceptible to being radicalized by some of those types of individuals.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Briefly—because I do want to share some of my time with Ms. Damoff—could you tell us two or three points? I'm happy to have you report back at some point in the future, but what have you started to do to try to counteract those individuals?

[Don Head]

It probably would be better to have me come back in order to go into it, because once I get going, I probably won't be able to stop. We are in the early stages of formulating a strategy, and I would love to share the information we've gathered.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you.

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

Mr. Head, I know you've done a lot of work on mental health in the workplace. I'm wondering if you could comment a bit on occupational stress injury in your facility, and also whether you think we would benefit from a national strategy. We have a bit of a piecemeal effort going on in Ontario and different provinces, and there's always a focus on the recovery of the individual, but not so much on prevention, intervention, and education. I'm wondering if you can comment on whether you think that would be helpful for you in corrections and in the broader sense as well.