We have to understand that prison really isn't a place for people to go to for addiction issues. It's just not a conduit in the way it's set up; the supports are not set up in that way. We need to understand that if individuals are heading there for those issues, we have to either reframe the way in which we see prisons, how we're working within prisons, and the programming within prisons, or find alternative measures to keep people out of prison.
This is something we're doing in northern Saskatchewan in a lot of communities. There are diversion programs, youth circles, and so forth, where youth who are involved in petty crime, if you will, are being diverted out of those systems and moving out because it's those networks that they build within the system that allow them to become further entrenched in it.
When we look at this I also want to bring in the idea that it's not just prisons; it's also looking at the child welfare system and CFS as well. When we look at individuals engaged in street gangs, especially with indigenous people, we see very high rates of individuals who have been multiply placed within child welfare systems. A lot of individuals say that was their first taste of understanding institutionalization. That's where they started building their relationships, going through there with like-minded individuals.
I'll leave it at that for now, due to the time frame.