Public Safety committee  Your analysis is quite correct. The problems are upstream, in society. In my opinion, the basic problem has to do with the social, economic, cultural and political rights of indigenous people. I think that when people are equal and when we have reached a level of recognition and an equal partnership, all of these problems could be solved upstream, once again.

Public Safety committee  Recently, we published a report entitled “Missed Opportunities: The Experience of Young Adults Incarcerated in Federal Penitentiaries”, which was about the issue of inmates aged 18 to 21. We made 17 recommendations. We are still waiting for a reply from the Correctional Service of Canada.

Public Safety committee  Yes. It is always more difficult to offer programs in maximum security facilities. The prison population is often fragmented. That means that certain units cannot mix with others, because there are gang-related safety issues, among others. It is difficult to find enough candidates to offer certain programs.

Public Safety committee  I think it would be important for the correctional service to develop risk assessment tools that are more sensitive to indigenous reality. Some research work needs to be done if we are to develop tools that are better adapted to the realities of indigenous offenders, and if they are not to be penalized because of their origins.

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. The majority of indigenous persons that are incarcerated are cases that require a lot of work, because they bring all sorts of problems into the penitentiaries with them that require follow-up. One of the things we highlighted in this year's annual report is that despite the follow-up given to the recommendations of the Auditor General, and despite efforts to give indigenous inmates quicker access to various programs and obtain a higher level of participation, aboriginal persons leave the penitentiaries and return to them.

Public Safety committee  Well, their correctional outcomes are poor, and I think that's what they have control over. As I said in my remarks, the Correctional Service of Canada has no control over who is being admitted into their facility. The only control they have is to make sure that they do good case management, which allows offenders to take programs to address their needs, to reduce their risk of reoffending, and to be cascaded from the highest security to the lowest security and then back into the community.

Public Safety committee  One of the things now being debated in the courts, which we have written about in our annual reports, is that the Correctional Service of Canada has never validated its actuarial tools to assess risk. It did validate the tools, but they never created tools specific to indigenous people.

Public Safety committee  Access is one thing, but whether it is provided is another. The best results, the kind you see with healing lodges, are usually provided in lower-security institutions. That's where the programs have the highest rate of success. As you go up, it's more difficult to provide programs.

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. There are basically nine healing lodges, four of which are operated under section 81. I will remind the committee that section 81 allows for the Minister of Public Safety to enter into an agreement with an indigenous community for the care and custody of indigenous offenders.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer that question. My mandate is specifically related to the administration of federal sentences. My expertise certainly lies more in that realm. I will tell you that part of what we see is that many federal offenders, upon release, are interested in going back not to reserves but to urban centres.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for your question. I have to say there's no shortage of recommendations my office has made over the years on issues related to indigenous people in prison. My office has established six corporate priorities, and one of them is of course indigenous people, but another priority that is included in my annual report is women in corrections.

Public Safety committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to appear. It is a pleasure to be here. I'm joined today by Hazel Miron, senior investigator with my office. Hazel's caseload includes healing lodges. Of note, her great-great-grandfather was one of the signatories of Treaty No. 8.