Public Safety committee  My ability to dismiss a complaint is rooted in the role of the ombudsman and gives me independence and discretion. We're not talking about accountability for complaint handling. We're talking about accountability for conducting yourself according to the rule of law. CSC has a different legislative mandate than my office does or the parole service does or the police service does, and that mandate requires them to be accountable.

Public Safety committee  That's right.

Public Safety committee  We conduct ourselves within the legislation. I suggest that CSC should, as well.

Public Safety committee  The simple answer is yes, within that context. The problem is with the premise; that is, I think it's an inappropriate process. If it has to be done, should it be done by the commissioner? Sure. The real question is, should it be done? My suggestion is that it shouldn't be.

Public Safety committee  I'm going to try to answer your question, but it's going to be a little indirect. I will try to get there quickly. What happens inside a correctional institution doesn't really have a parallel in the outside very much. The relationship between the kept and the keepers is one of constant negotiation.

Public Safety committee  My fear is that if we do anything legislatively to reduce Correctional Service Canada's accountability to deal with complaints in a legitimate way, we will be doing a disservice to the rule of law within our correctional institutions. It is very important that complaints be seen at the outset as being legitimate until they're disproved.

Public Safety committee  Opportunities exist for informal conflict resolution that are currently not being utilized, or are being underutilized.

Public Safety committee  Clearly, the commissioner and I disagree on whether a legislative change is required to do that. I think that's already implicit in the law as it's written.

Public Safety committee  I think that's a fair characterization. It is, in fact, our business. Correctional officers' primary business may be something else; it may be security or it may be something else, yes.

Public Safety committee  There is a small number of offenders who burden the system. My advice to the commissioner has been to deal with those administratively, so that he can address the more legitimate complaints in a more expeditious manner.

Public Safety committee  Yes, it was my comment, and yes, I do. Probably the best evidence I can share with you is simply to look at the number of complaints that are then upheld at the third or the national level once they have been denied at the regional level. We often will find that as complaints move through the chain, it's really headquarters that will finally take a stand and apply a more firm policy lens to the complaint.

Public Safety committee  The legislation allows for that. What we typically do is get back in touch with the offender and tell them that we're not going to proceed.

Public Safety committee  Let me first go back to your earlier comments, because I'm not sure that I fully appreciated them or understood them. There are many differences between what my office does and what an internal standards and practice officer does. There are also many differences between what my staff do and what a front-line correctional officer does.

Public Safety committee  It may have been the process that you are used to. It's not the way our process works.

Public Safety committee  Personally, no, I never have.