Public Safety committee  I feel that the key is really to have a multi-pronged approach. I think we've made significant investments on the security side. We've shown very good results there. We've made significant investments on the treatment and prevention side. That's also showing very good results. I would agree with Darcy.

Public Safety committee  Sure. Sometimes I find it easier to look at women's facilities somewhat separately and to look at the history. For the most part, I think the rate of positive urinalysis in these facilities is probably quite a bit lower than at the men's facilities—but certainly it has been falling based on the efforts we've been making.

Public Safety committee  I can say that my site received significant reinvestment funds that have been directed specifically to hiring more nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, program delivery officers, and parole officers. That has significantly enhanced our ability to address the needs of the women and to help prepare them for a safe transition to the community.

Public Safety committee  All of the programs for women are specifically for women, and the programs for aboriginal women are specifically for aboriginal women. All of our programs are evidence based. They are based on research and evaluated to ensure they are effective and appropriate.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. Aboriginal women have at least as high or higher rates of substance abuse, violent offending, and mental health difficulties. Their difficult experiences have compounded and they come in with very high needs. What we've found in the past was that mainstream programming was not as effective as it could be for aboriginal women.

Public Safety committee  I would only be guessing why that population is growing as fast as it is. Over the last 10 years, the women offender population has grown by 9% per year on average. Between 2006 and 2010, the women offender population increased by 23%. In fact, it increased by 28% for aboriginal women.

Public Safety committee  What I would say is that the problem is different, because women in prison do not have the supports or connections outside of prison that men do. They are not connected to networks of organized crime. They don't have people willing to bring things in for them, especially not in large quantities.

Public Safety committee  The programs for women address more then just substance abuse. What we do is to assess the level of intervention required. If it's low, we will engage with them or offer programs as a transition into the community. If there is a moderate need, we have a moderate program. And then we have higher-intensity programs, if there's a higher need.

Public Safety committee  More and more women admitted to federal custody have very high rates of mental health difficulty. At this point, about 30% come in with a diagnosis, and the expectation would be that this would continue at that rate, or increase as our population increases. We're already very well positioned with my interdisciplinary team to assess, treat, and offer services to these women.

Public Safety committee  There was one incident in which a needle was attached to another object and used as a weapon.

Public Safety committee  I'll just start with effectiveness of the program. We have some very compelling statistics from our research department showing that the likelihood of someone returning after committing a new offence is reduced by 45% if they have completed one of our substance abuse programs, and by 63% for violent offences.

Public Safety committee  Well, there are all kinds of programs operating in different timeframes, and our intervention with the women starts the day they arrive. I think what's critical is that we don't just do interdiction; we must do prevention, harm reduction, and treatment, and I can tell you we do that in a really comprehensive way.

Public Safety committee  Yes, for the general population it is very much like that. The women live in houses. Ten women live there collaboratively, and they cook and clean and share the chores and move around during the day to work and programs. The maximum security unit would look much more like the prisons that other folks might be familiar with, and for obvious reasons the women there need to be in a more structured environment.

Public Safety committee  That has not happened since I've been here—not that I'm aware of. But we put a lot of effort into preventing it. We have restricted movement within the yard area away from the perimeter fences, we have a lot of staff present, and we were given some additional resources that we utilize to prevent throw-overs.

Public Safety committee  It's absolutely critical, and it's the foundation of everything we do here. A woman's pathway into prison is a terrible journey, filled with trauma, abuse, and marginalization of all sorts. And her pathway into crime has often included drug use and misguided attempts to manage the financial burdens she has faced without her having the skills to get employment to be able to care of her family members.