Evidence of meeting #3 for Public Safety and National Security in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was million.
A video is available from Parliament.
10:15 a.m.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Well, I hope that happens. One of the concerns was that there was a lack of will to actually do it. This has been an ongoing situation.
Mr. Chair, I don't know how much time I have left.
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
10:15 a.m.
NDP
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Oh, I have absolute faith in your ability to do something with 15 seconds, Mr. Harris, but thank you for that.
Monsieur Paul-Hus, I'll be interested in your questions relevant to this issue.
10:15 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Kelly, they say that there is enough money in the budgets. Only 6% of the funds are for resources on the ground. I would like to know why the number of people paroled has increased in Canada when there are not enough resources on the ground to provide adequate supervision.
A case like that of Eustachio Gallese, who killed Ms. Levesque, should never happen, and everyone knows that. Inmates are nevertheless being released. It would seem that we are in a hurry to parole offenders even though the resources are not available.
Tell my why, Ms. Kelly. Why must we release people from prison when we do not have the resources to supervise them?
10:15 a.m.
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
I would first like to extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Marylène Levesque. It is a tragedy. That is never the result we want. The mandate of the Correctional Service of Canada is to ensure public safety. We take that very seriously.
We are not in a hurry to release offenders into the community. They have to wait for their eligibility date. They also have to follow their correctional plan. There are things they must do in order to be able to appear before the board and then the board decides whether or not they will be granted parole.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Ms. Kelly, if there are no resources, can we not say that they must wait? There is no obligation to release them. If supervision is not in place to provide follow up, why must people be released? Is there pressure to do so?
10:20 a.m.
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
No, the offenders must be ready. Our mandate is to prepare offenders.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
10:20 a.m.
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
We do so through our interventions and programs, once they are ready. We often also provide them with opportunities to leave the institution by granting escorted temporary absences.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
What happens if the offender is ready to be released and meets all the assessment criteria you have put in place, but there are not enough officers to supervise them on the ground? There is no obligation to release him, especially in the case of a murderer like Eustachio Gallese.
10:20 a.m.
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
As I explained, we work very closely with our union partners. We have a resource allocation formula for community parole officers. It takes into account different things, such as the reports to be drafted and the different types of supervision they are responsible for. This tells us how many officers we need in the community.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Thank you, Ms. Kelly.
My next question is for the people from the Canada Border Services Agency.
The budget has increased by $500 million or more. Will these funds be used deal with the backlog of 50,000 removals? These are people who came to Canada and were denied asylum, among other things. It is the job of the CBSA to remove them, but it is unable to do so.
Will this money help the CBSA do that?
10:20 a.m.
President, Canada Border Services Agency
As I said earlier, I think the big difference that you're referring to is a result of previous estimates provided by the government. Last year, with respect to removals in particular, there was money for a border enforcement strategy for us to deal with increases in refugee claimants and to make sure, once they have gone through all of their processes and have exhausted all other avenues of appeal and are ready for removal, that we will remove them.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Will the money that is going to be voted help the agency carry out the removals and ensure that you will have more resources?
The current estimate is that just 1,000 of 50,000 have been removed.
10:20 a.m.
President, Canada Border Services Agency
Yes. Just to be clear, we're not asking for any money in these supplementary estimates (B) for border enforcement functions to deal with removals. That was previously provided, in estimates from last year's budget.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Ossowski.
My next question is for the representatives of Public Safety Canada.
I would like to speak about two existing programs: the First Nations Organized Crime Initiative, whose results were set out in a report last year, and the Kahnawake Organized Crime Initiative, for which a report is being prepared.
The 34-page report on Akwesasne indicates that AK-47 assault rifles were seized. Quebec's premier mentioned that AK-47s might be found in Kahnawake. That is not news.
Is this plausible?
10:20 a.m.
Liberal
10:20 a.m.
Monik Beauregard Associate Deputy Minister , Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
That is detailed information provided by the police. I will have to send you the specific information from the Department of Public Safety.
10:20 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Therefore, the information is available and you can provide it to the committee. Thank you.
10:20 a.m.
Liberal
Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My first question concerns the National Parole Board.
Ms. Oades, you talked about the $1.7 million in the budget, including $1.3 million to expedite the granting of pardons to those found guilty of simple possession of cannabis.
How do you think that this money will improve the process? What is your assessment of the process to date? The minister mentioned processing times of seven days, which is already very good.
10:25 a.m.
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada
We have implemented an expedited process for pardons. We have received 381 applications so far since the law passed. We have accepted 215 of those applications. We've returned 160 applications as they were either ineligible or incomplete. Of the ones we've accepted, we have ordered 213 cannabis record suspensions, and there are six applications pending processing. Processing takes a week, so this is quite up to date.
10:25 a.m.
Liberal
10:25 a.m.
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada
It's to cover costs from the front end: training of staff, developing a new application form because it's a totally new expedited way, looking at running everything through plain language editors, and all of the outreach and working with our partners in terms of letting them know how to help people apply. All of it has a cost, and this is for that cost.