Evidence of meeting #4 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 offenders.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Ms. Oades, in the board's September 2019 report, it states that “in the absence of concern relating to public safety”. Is it normal for board members informed of these meetings with women not to express any safety concerns?
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada
Sorry, I believe they did express huge concern. They said that this was unacceptable and was not to happen.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
I'm talking about what was said before the decision was made.
Would an experienced board member have written that?
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada
I don't think they knew before the actual hearing, but the board of investigation might show something else.
Liberal
Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC
I'd like you to tell us about the joint investigation, the board of investigation that was set up and its process. Could you explain it to the committee members?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 2014, Christopher Falconer was found guilty of murder when he had already committed one while on day parole.
In 2014, while the previous government was in power, the same kind of board of investigation was set up. Is that correct? Were you satisfied, at that time, with the recommendations made and the light shed on the case in question?
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
A board of investigation had been set up and had made recommendations and follow-ups. Again, this is a joint investigation by the PBC and the Correctional Service of Canada. The five members of this board will gather all the information and talk to the people they need to talk to.
Based on what they gather, they will make recommendations, which the PBC will take very seriously. For us at the PBC, public safety is the number one priority. So we want to know what happened in this case so that it doesn't happen again.
Liberal
Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC
It can be expected that every decision, at every stage, that led to this tragedy will be evaluated and weighed, and that recommendations will be made.
Liberal
Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC
Perfect.
This has been addressed by my Conservative colleagues on many occasions, but I would still like to talk about the experience of the board members in question. I didn't mean to be partisan, but Mr. Paul-Hus got us there fairly quickly. It's clear that the Parole Board.... We know what Mr. Blackburn, a former board member, said. He was a Conservative candidate in the Pontiac in 2019, and six of the nine board members who were there in 2015 had given large sums of money to the Conservative Party, need I remind the House.
When comparing the experience of the two board members who made the decision in this case with, for example, the experience of—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Mr. Lightbound, I think I maybe should have interrupted Mr. Paul-Hus earlier when we strayed into partisan matters.
I'm not quite sure what the relevance is as to who is making appointments, which government is making appointments. We're dealing with—
Liberal
Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC
I accept your judgment, but one of the strongest criticisms in this case came not only from Mr. Paul-Hus, but also from Mr. Blackburn.
I would just like to hear your views on the experience of the board members in question. Can we have a little more information? In your opinion, did they have the necessary experience to make this decision?
Ms. Oades, you may answer.
Sylvie Blanchet Executive Vice-Chairperson , Parole Board of Canada
Actually, the board members who made this decision were experienced because they were full-time board members. It's important to understand that there's a bit of a difference between a part-time board member and a full-time one. A part-time board member works five to 10 days a month, while a full-time board member goes out to vote every day.
In this case, the board members may have had fewer years of experience, but they had more or as many years of decision-making experience as part-time board members. I can't give you specific names because I don't have that information, but certainly the board members who made the decisions had the necessary experience.
Liberal
Joël Lightbound Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC
Perfect.
Unless I'm mistaken, we're talking about a former provincial board member and a former parole officer.
All Parole Board members are supervised by the regional vice-chairperson, in this case Mr. Bouchard. Is that correct? What form does this supervision take in the day-to-day work of the board members?
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada
Mr. Bouchard had taken some personal leave, so we have had another board member take on the administrative duties of the vice-chair position in the Quebec region.
Basically, by law, vice-chairs are responsible for ensuring that board members in their region are properly trained and ensuring that they are abiding by the board members' code of conduct. They're in charge of mentoring and coaching them to ensure that they are doing all of the votes they need to do. They are in charge of a yearly evaluation we have of all board members. They would, perhaps, observe some of their hearings or at least listen to some of their hearings. Those evaluations come to both the executive vice-chair and me for review.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, Mr. Lightbound.
Madam Michaud, you have two and a half minutes, please.
Bloc
Kristina Michaud Bloc Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Since we can't have precise details on the current case, I would like to know whether, to your knowledge, there have been similar cases in the past. By similar cases, I mean those in which an offender has used sexual services. Is this really an isolated case that has never been seen before?
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
To my knowledge, this is an isolated case. I've been in the service for 37 years, and I've never seen anything like it.
However, it is also why I have asked for a complete review of community strategies to ensure that this does not exist. We have made it very clear with the regional deputy commissioners that the service does not condone this practice.
Bloc
Kristina Michaud Bloc Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Okay. In your presentation, you said that you could send us the results of the investigation.
How long does this kind of investigation usually take?
Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
An investigation like this still takes a long time. You have to collect all the information and conduct interviews. However, we have committed to doing the investigation in about two months. There's also a criminal investigation going on.
Bloc
Kristina Michaud Bloc Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Okay.
If the criminal investigation hasn't finished, could we still get the results of your investigation? I'm talking about the internal investigation.