Public Safety committee  This is an extremely challenging area of correctional practice. There is some international evidence that prison-based needle exchanges can work, and by work I mean they provide better health outcomes. At the same time, they don't contribute to increased drug use or increased violence inside institutions.

Public Safety committee  The mandate is to investigate and bring to resolution, through recommendations, any concerns of federal offenders. I don't have the schedule that would indicate the numbers, but we have received complaints about incompatibilities within the inmate population.

Public Safety committee  We receive a variety of complaints and concerns, everything from access to programs, access to medical treatment and intervention, access to harm reduction programs, such as the methadone maintenance program or the opioid substitution program. We have complaints around muscling or bullying or intimidation.

Public Safety committee  It's a term that relates to inmate behaviour: bullying behaviour, intimidating behaviour, behaviour that is sometimes related to gang activity. Examples would be an inmate being intimidated into diverting prescription medication, or being intimidated into trying to encourage somebody from outside the penitentiary to be involved in an illegal or illicit activity.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's a pleasure to be back before you and members of your committee. I certainly appreciate the committee's ongoing interest in this topic. Drugs, addiction, and contraband are certainly issues we deal with every day in our office. In my last appearance before this committee I indicated that the problem of intoxicants in prisons is difficult to measure and monitor.

Justice committee  Well, my mandate and authority are for federal corrections, but I do have the experience of visiting some provincial institutions, and I'm familiar with the literature on prison crowding. Collectively I think it's fairly well understood that crowding prevents the best correctional practice from happening.

Justice committee  Sure, and I'll try to be very quick. Legal language is very important. It has to be clear, so simple is better, and words have deep meanings to people when they're involved with the criminal justice system. So whether we're talking about the language around pardons or least restrictive measures in corrections or anything else, it's very important that rules be clear so that systems can be held accountable.

Justice committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. First and foremost, I want to thank you and the clerk of the committee for accommodating our requirements to maintain our independence. It's not usual for us to participate as part of a panel before these committees. I understand that timing necessitated this and that there were some last-minute adjustments to help meet our needs.

Public Safety committee  Prison crowding actually confounds just about everything that's positive about a correctional environment. Prison crowding leads to violence, bullying, intimidation, and gang activity. All of those things are related to the trade in contraband in an institution. Prison crowding is also dangerous for staff.

Public Safety committee  I think you have two general factors to consider. Number one is that we have seen growth in the federally sentenced inmate population. Roughly speaking, it's up by about 1,000 people this year over last. The system has not grown to the same extent. It is growing—there are lots of capital projects going on, lots of new cell space being constructed—but the system is playing catch-up.

Public Safety committee  It's physical capacity, simply put, in terms of program space; human resources capacity in terms of qualified personnel to deliver the programs; and mobility issues throughout the correctional system in terms of having offenders in the right security and right physical setting so they can gain access to programs.

Public Safety committee  Again, there are a few facets to that question. The correctional services policy of dynamic security is a very good policy. That means you don't simply rely on static security, such as barriers, ion scanning, or gun towers, but you actually require your staff, including your security staff, to have a dynamic relationship with the offender population.

Public Safety committee  Every offender is given a correctional plan after intake and assessment. The Correctional Service of Canada prescribes the plans or programs. You have the men and women in the service who are doing those assessments and saying that they think the criminogenic needs of the prisoners will be addressed if the prisoners are in a particular substance abuse or cognitive program.

Public Safety committee  Yes. Sometimes they're investigated in terms of their being harassment or inappropriate staff conduct. So they're not always captured as search issues simply. Sometimes they are complaints about a pattern of behaviour, where an inmate or an inmate's family member may feel harassed by correctional staff.

Public Safety committee  Of the CCRA? Yes. As a matter of fact, we have found cases of staff misconduct. However, our recommendations are not disciplinary in nature, so it's always about policy compliance. But we have certainly investigated complaints of staff misconduct and have found them to be grounded.