In this case, it was a Supreme Court ruling, a decision the government had to act on within a certain timeframe. So clearly the minister was being proactive until such time as new guidelines are put in place to mitigate the problem at hand.
I will give you an example of what I'm a little disappointed about. It's the second time that mandate letters have been issued by thePrime Minister to the Minister of Public Safety and by the Minister of Public Safety to the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada.
The letter to the Commissioner is excellent. It's absolutely extraordinary, because it reflects all the problem situations that my office has been documenting for several years. Despite the tremendous content, the problem with letters is they don't include deadlines or action items. It's hard to hold someone accountable if you don't have a concrete timeline or a deliverable.
If I had one recommendation to help my office, it would be that a Correctional Service Canada-approved action plan accompany proposed actions to meaningfully demonstrate how to improve the situation. Otherwise, we end up with four years later and don't see much progress.