Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford has put forward a private member's bill, Bill C-211, to amend the arrest without warrant provisions of the Criminal Code.
I assure members of the House that public safety remains the government's number one priority in the operation of our corrections and conditional release system. To more fully demonstrate the importance we attach to the issue, I would like to mention a bit about our present system of conditional release.
Almost all offenders will return, by law, to the community one day so the best long term protection for society is through the gradual controlled release of offenders that helps them to reintegrate into society as law-abiding citizens. Unfortunately there are some, including some Reform Party members, who dwell on this procedure to exploit the fears of Canadians about the reintegration of offenders into society.
Protection of society is the primary consideration in the decision to release any offender. Only those offenders whose risk has been assessed as manageable in the community are released on parole. The transition from confinement to freedom can be difficult and offenders have a better chance of success if they receive supervision, program opportunities, training and support within the community to which they must readjust.
Offenders who are granted parole are not simply put back on the street with no forethought. Regrettably this is a common misconception that again is exploited by some, including Reform members, for political gain.
Offenders must have a release plan. They must leave prison with a place to live, a plan for gainful employment or education, and a community support system that gives them a chance to change their previous behaviour.
Before granting parole to an offender, board members review all the pertinent information available to make a preliminary risk assessment, namely the nature of the offence, the offender's criminal record, as well as any social or mental problem. After reviewing all this information and, in most cases, interviewing the offender, board members decide whether or not to grant parole.
In order to make this decision, the board relies on a number of partners. The first one is the Correctional Service of Canada, which provides the board with basic information, including the offender's criminal history, his behaviour in prison, his participation in programs, and his parole plan.
Community organizations, police forces, victims and other people also provide information on the offender's ability to re-enter the community.
When the board decides to release an offender into the community a number of standard conditions apply, including reporting regularly to a parole officer and to the police as instructed and carrying at all times the release certificate or identity card. The board can also impose additional conditions such as abstaining from alcohol, staying away from known criminals and no association with victims or their families.
Breaking one of these conditions is a serious matter because an offender risks returning to prison. Offenders are still serving their sentence and they are closely supervised by parole officers employed by Correctional Service Canada working out of local parole offices. These officers play a key role in helping and encouraging the offender to successfully complete the transition from prison to the community.
The parole officer whose powers are considerable can recommend directly to the board that a treatment condition be imposed, for instance for a drug or alcohol abuse problem, and if the offender does not comply he or she can be sent immediately back to prison.
I would like to stress that there are strict measures in place for handling violations and prevention of breaches of parole, statutory release and unescorted temporary absence conditions. In the case of an offender on parole or statutory release a suspension warrant can be issued at any time by Correctional Services Canada and the National Parole Board when there has been a breach of condition, to prevent a breach of condition or when it is believed to be necessary and reasonable in order to protect society.
Execution of this warrant provides sufficient authority to return the offender to custody until the case can be reviewed by the National Parole Board. A network of officers is on duty round the clock to provide for immediate police action by telephone and warrants can be transmitted by facsimile.
In the case of unescorted temporary absences a suspension warrant can be issued for an offender where the grounds for granting the absence have changed or no longer exist or when the new information becomes available that would have altered the original decision.
The Corrections and Conditional Release Act provides ample and clear authority for an offender's conditional release to be suspended by correction officers. This enables police to arrest the offender and bring him or her into custody.
It is also important to realize that police already have full authority to arrest an offender without warrant whenever they find any conditional release offender committing a criminal offence or whenever they have reasonable grounds to believe that a conditionally released offender has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence.
We must also bear in mind that roughly 80% of offenders released on parole and statutory release do not commit any type of offence while under supervision. About 11% are returned to prison following a breach of conditions established at the time of their release. These figures do not include offenders released on unescorted temporary absences where the success rate is close to 99%.
New measures to improve communications between the correctional service and police were taken to ensure better community management of paroled offenders under federal jurisdiction. This includes notifying police in advance every time an offender is released, whether on temporary absence without escort, parole or statutory release, as well as providing police with relevant information when correctional authorities have reason to believe that an offender about to be released at the end of his sentence may pose a threat to others.
More recently, the government passed new legislation to better protect the public against high risk violent offenders, by creating a long term offender designation for repeat sex offenders for supervision and monitoring purposes and introducing indeterminate sentences.
There is also the judicial restraint order requiring anyone to keep the peace or face a term of imprisonment.
Open discussion and debate on issues affecting public safety deserve our foremost attention and utmost scrutiny. We also have a responsibility to ensure that our energies are directed toward implementing new measures that are well researched and well founded and most of all needed. However, we must guard ourselves against the political exploitation of those issues by members such as the Reform Party members who have been interrupting my speech here today.
I believe our current legislation and practices regarding conditional release offenders provide for the right balance and responsibility between police and correctional authorities and that the system we have in place is a sound one.
For those reasons I believe that our common goal of public safety would not be enhanced by the adoption of the measures outlined by Bill C-211.