Public Safety Committee on March 10th, 2020

[Anne Kelly]

There is. In the community, there's a community parole officer, a parole supervisor, and an area director and district director.

[Rob Morrison, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

They follow up on corrective action, if required.

[Anne Kelly]

That's right.

[Rob Morrison, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Okay.

Marc.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Go ahead.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question goes to Mr. van Ginhoven.

According to former members, the lack of members has increased the workload of the hearing officers. There have been cases of professional burnout and hearing officers have left in droves. The Montreal office had to hire a mediator to resolve conflicts between the hearing officers and yourself as director general.

How many hearing officers have left their jobs after you took up the position in the Montreal office? How many cases of professional burnout have you had? Do you have those numbers?

[Martin J. van Ginhoven, Regional Director General, Quebec Region, Parole Board of Canada]

Unfortunately, I do not have those numbers. As far as I know, I think that two hearing officers have retired since I have been in the position, that is, since 2014.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you.

We are asking for the mediator's report to be submitted to the committee.

My next question goes to Ms. Oades.

Do you admit that the strategy allowing him to meet women for strictly sexual purposes was a major and troubling risk factor?

[Jennifer Oades]

I certainly hope it was.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

So if the strategy was a major and troubling risk factor, why not put an end to Mr. Gallese's day parole?

[Jennifer Oades]

As I said, our decisions are independent. They would have weighed that against everything else they were seeing in terms of past performance, in terms of the risk they think he would pose to the community, and in terms of the measures put in place to manage that risk. At the end of it, people will come up with either a yea or a nay. In this case, they came up with the decision to continue day parole.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I have another question.

When Mr. Gallese's family saw him at Christmas 2019, they noticed that he was a complete mess.

How is it that the parole officers did not notice or indicate that Mr. Gallese was a mess and completely confused?

Is there no obligation on the part of the officers to indicate that?

[Anne Kelly]

That is up to the parole officer.

Once again, I cannot talk about a specific case, but when we supervise offenders in the community, we have to establish links with those who are part of the offender's life, precisely in order to be able to check certain information. If there is information to the effect that a person is a mess, the parole officer must take action.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Dalton. Did you reference a report?

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Yes, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Could you be specific for the analysts?

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Yes, Mr. Chair, I can give you the title later.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

The final five minutes go to Mr. Iacono.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Oades, does the offender population present increasingly complex cases these days? If so, do parole board members receive any special training to deal with those complex cases?

[Jennifer Oades]

Yes they do, and I would like to pick up on the complex cases.

Over the years, with the continuing growth of the lifer population, people serving indeterminate sentences, when Parole Board members now review those files, they are massive. Quite frankly, I would like Parole Board members to have more time to study.

I'm going to describe a Parole Board member's day. Monday, they study for three to four hearings that will happen on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday they study again for three to four hearings that will happen on Thursday. Friday is generally a time when they have six paper votes. It is a full workload, and with the complexity and sheer volumes of files for a growing number of lifers, it would be nice for Parole Board members to have more time to study.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Oades.

Just now, you talked about experience, years of experience, years at work, as well as the number of decisions. You said that it was not a matter of the number of years, but rather the number of decisions made.

Can you be specific as to what you mean?

[Jennifer Oades]

When you are a part-time Parole Board member, the expectation is that you will work five to 10 days per month for the Parole Board making decisions. They're going to have fewer hearings and decisions over that three-year period than someone who is full time and basically voting full time.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Go ahead, Mr. Lightbound.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Iacono.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Oades, what are the criteria in the law that guide officers when they have to make a decision as to whether or not to grant an offender day parole?

[Jennifer Oades]

First, protection of the public is the paramount consideration. Second, the offender will not, by reoffending, present an undue risk to society before the expiration of the sentence and—it's not an or; it's and—the release of the offender will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating the reintegration of the offender into society as a law-abiding citizen.