Mr. Speaker, this week at the coroner's inquest into the death of Ashley Smith the commissioner of Correctional Service of Canada made a very shocking statement. He told the jurors not to bother making costly recommendations to fix the mental health crisis in our prisons because he had no money to implement changes. These are changes that would prevent more suicides and avoid more deaths in our prisons like Ashley Smith's.
Would the minister explain why his department does not view the prevention of deaths in prison as a spending priority?