Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. As always, it's a pleasure to appear before you and your colleagues on the committee. I want to thank you all for the opportunity to discuss Bill C-293. My executive director and general counsel, Dr. Zinger, is here as well. Dr. Zinger will speak briefly to the role of my office and how it is that we deal with offenders who file multiple complaints.

Public Safety committee  Well, it's a yes on that half of it. I don't want to comment on the new capacity that will be required in anticipation of policy and legislative reforms, because I have yet to see a comprehensive roll-up of what all of that anticipated policy and legislative change will result in, in terms of numbers.

Public Safety committee  What we know is that there is a relationship between enrolment and completion, and we know that enrolment is low. We know there are a variety of—

Public Safety committee  Yes, I think I do understand your point, and here is the difficulty in terms of the limitations of the language around this. The Correctional Service of Canada might tell you that they don't have a waiting list in the way you and I may think of a waiting list, like a waiting list to get hip replacement surgery.

Public Safety committee  As I understand it, there are two kinds of investments being made right now. There is some capital investment being made to deal with what's referred to as “rust-out” or just building capacity to meet current demand, and then there are investments being made in anticipation of increased demand because of legislative and policy reform.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. I appreciate that, because it's a very interesting list of issues raised by your colleague. I never want to be misunderstood about my commitment to or support of the Correctional Service of Canada and dynamic security, and the fact that dynamic security is the best form of security in running a prison.

Public Safety committee  I think your question in a way anticipates my answer. We've seen a big investment in enforcement and interdiction. CSC's own research, their internal audit report, etc., has demonstrated that there is in fact a bit of a plateau, and interdiction numbers seem to be going up. So there could be more seizures, but we really don't know if that increase in seizures has decreased the supply of contraband inside institutions because we don't have a baseline.

Public Safety committee  We have received complaints around tobacco and aboriginal spirituality. One of the issues we dealt with, for example, was a decision to allow a tobacco pouch as a gift to an elder. Then, no matches were allowed to complete a smudge. We do continue to receive complaints. Again, we are trying to find a balance between enforcing the Correctional Service of Canada's tobacco-free policy, but also enforcing their policy around access to aboriginal spirituality.

Public Safety committee  They can and do go to a number of places. There is an aboriginal advisory committee that the Correctional Service of Canada must convene. That is required by law. They can and do bring complaints to our office, often in combination with concerns being raised by offenders or their families.

Public Safety committee  Our correctional system is based on a very logical model, which is intake at sentencing with assessment to determine both risk and criminogenic need, then prescription of a correctional program to address the risk and need. The security classification is included in the placement.

Public Safety committee  I've carefully avoided commenting on the UN minimum standards. I'm suggesting that while we must always be mindful of out international and domestic obligations, particularly with regard to human rights, we also have a commitment to the integrity of our own correctional plan. The law and policy that guide corrections in Canada are very clear about providing rehabilitative services to assist in timely and safe reintegration.

Public Safety committee  The United Nations minimum standards, the European Union, and many other authorities, including the Correctional Service of Canada, state that single-cell accommodation is the preferred level of accommodation, for lots of reasons.

Public Safety committee  Dr. Zinger may be able to--

Public Safety committee  We've seen the typical sentence length decease and the amount of time served shorten over the last decade or two. That's one of the reasons why the Correctional Service was motivated to develop this new program strategy. If sentence length is shorter and you want people to gain some benefit, you need to move them into programs more quickly.

Public Safety committee  I think that correctional facilities are neither safe nor dangerous; it's how you operate them.