Lawrence MacAulay

[Correctional Service Canada, June 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the member just came to realize that there are drugs in prison, but there are. It is a simple matter.

A test done in 1995 showed that 39% of the people in federal prisons used drugs. A test was done about a year ago and it showed about 13% or about a 300% decrease in drug usage.

I can assure my hon. colleague that the problem is not solved. We are still working on the drug and alcohol—

[Correctional Service Canada, May 31st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated to my hon. colleague, I am well aware that drugs and alcohol are major problems for our prisoner population. As I indicated I intend to address these problems.

[Correctional Service Canada, May 31st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, drugs and addiction are major problems in the country. Seven out of ten people are in our federal penitentiaries as a result of being involved with drugs and alcohol.

I assure my hon. colleague that I make it a major priority to address the drug and alcohol problems in our field institutions.

[Questions On The Order Paper, May 28th, 1999]

The National Parole Board has responded to Chapter 17 of the 1994 report of the Auditor General of Canada regarding performance measurement as follows:

(a) The National Parole Board has established a performance measurement regime to ensure that management has the information required to monitor and assess its performance. The key component of this regime over the last three years has been the annual statistics package. This package provides detailed information on the performance of the board's conditional release and pardons and clemency programs over a five year period. As well, this package currently includes over 650 tables of statistical information on everything from crime in Canada and offender population to more specific information on parole grant rates, parole and statutory release success rates and charges for serious offences. This information is also included in other publications such as the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics' annual report on adult correctional services in Canada and the Department of the Solicitor General Canada's annual statistical overview on corrections and conditional release. The board is developing a new statistical information retrieval system, SIRS, which is scheduled to be available on the Intranet by the fall of 1999. In addition to the annual statistics package, the board also produces two yearly performance monitoring reports that identify developing trends and possible areas for improvement.

(b) The National Parole Board has developed most of the performance measures suggested in paragraph 17.65 of the 1994 report of the auditor general. Specifically, the board now measures:

(i) See (c) (i).

(ii) Recidivism rates by type of revocation;

The success tables present the information based on the four ways that conditional release supervision periods end;

Successful completion—releases in which the offender remains under supervision in the community from release date to the end of the period of supervision—warrant expiry date for full parole and statutory release;

Revocations for breach of conditions—these revocations have been defined as positive interventions to reduce risk to the community in that the offender is removed from the community to prevent recidivism;

Revocation with non-violent offence—any conditional release that results in revocation for a new non-violent offence—recidivism;

Revocation with violent offence—any conditional release that results in revocation for a new violent offence—recidivism.

(iii) Recidivism rate by category of offender.

(iv) Recidivism rate by region.

(v) See (c) (v).

(vi) Violent crimes committed while offenders are on release—the board measures charges for serious offences by offence type, for example, murder, sexual assault, major assault, robbery, et cetera, by release type—day parole, full parole or statutory release—and by region.

(c) (i) The board does not specifically measure the recidivism rate for the first year after release. An inter-departmental committee is currently working to develop a recidivism rate formula based on the date of release, which would not be limited by the warrant expiry date. This rate would provide information on recidivism for any number of years after release, for example, one year, five years, ten years after release, et cetera, including post-warrant expiry recidivism. Once developed, the new recidivism rate should provide better information on the success of treatment and reintegration programs and on the overall performance of the correctional system.

(v) The board does not measures the recidivism rate for cases where the board releases an offender though the Correctional Service has not recommended release. While the Correctional Service recommendation is an important part of all conditional release reviews, board members make independent decisions, based on the risk factors presented by the offender during the review, and the board's performance measurement regime provides information on the quality of these decisions. That said, the board does monitor how often board decisions are in concordance with the CSC recommendation. This measure is called the concordance rate.

Question No. 207—

[Justice, May 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I said previously, this is a very serious matter. I have directed the Chairman of the National Parole Board and the Commissioner of Correctional Services Canada to have a national investigation to get to the bottom of exactly what did happen in this very serious situation.

[Justice, May 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I take this grave matter very seriously. I have directed the Chairman of the National Parole Board and the Commissioner of Correctional Services Canada to conduct a joint national investigation into this tragedy. The investigation will be co-chaired by three former policemen from Lethbridge, Alberta.

[Correctional Service Canada, May 11th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I take this matter very seriously. This is the first escape from Kingston in 41 years. It is a very serious situation.

I can assure my hon. colleague that I am not in possession of any letter and I am sure my hon. colleague, the Minister of Justice, has no letter of recommendation from this gentleman.

[Correctional Service Canada, May 11th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that my hon. colleague continues to indicate that there are quotas. When public safety is the number one issue there are no quotas, there will be no quotas and there never have been quotas.

[Air India, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated to my hon. colleague, the investigation continues. The information is being relayed to the Attorney General of British Columbia and he will decide whether charges will or will not be laid.

[Air India, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that this is a heavy burden for families and friends of the victims of the Air India crash; however, this is a very complex investigation. In fact it is up to the Attorney General of British Columbia to decide whether charges will be laid.