Justice committee  Thank you. Registered victims tend to be those who are affected by the most violent crimes. They may be more seriously harmed, so it's super important to do really good training. We have victim services officers across the country who get regular training. We also have it in the parole officer induction program.

Justice committee  I just was going to say, to kick that one off, that to ensure better protection of the public, our parole officers work with and share information with police agencies across the country in most jurisdictions where offenders are released into the community as law-abiding citizens.

Justice committee  Thank you for the question. I will answer it on behalf of the Correctional Service of Canada. The Restorative Opportunities program has been in existence for 20 years. It is a very successful program and one that we believe in very much. It is a voluntary program, meaning that victims and the offenders who have harmed them must want to participate.

Justice committee  I just wanted to add that over the past two years, we did see a 10% increase in our registered victims. It is a trend in the right direction. We do know that during COVID, the website traffic was up almost 22%, I believe. I think there are some good indicators there that more people are accessing service in a virtual way as well.

Justice committee  I would just add that, for Correctional Services Canada, we have a complaint process as well. We received 10 complaints last year over 40,000 contacts, so there were very few. They relate mainly to rights, so to information protection and participation and to those who seek restitution, but not to racism.

Justice committee  I'll try to tackle that one as well as I can. We do a number of things around offender reintegration, including the work that the parole officer does in the community to ensure adequate supervision of offenders who are released into the community. If I may go back to one of the things raised earlier, I will use this opportunity to address the question on the national task team we have in place.

Justice committee  I don't have that with me, but I'm happy to provide it, yes.

Justice committee  I can reiterate that it's definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach. We try to customize the information that we provide based on the interests of these victims. Some victims don't want to register to receive information, and that's their choice. If they change their minds at any time in the process, of course, they are able to register and provide victim statements, etc., and participate in the process.

Justice committee  I can add that we also distribute hard copies, and that plain language is also really important for reaching victims—especially people who are traumatized—to be able to make clear what's available and how to access it, and then provide the choices and options. Ian, I see you have something to add as well.

Justice committee  I would add that we collect this data around different ethnocultural groups and indigenous groups, as well, and it is predominantly white. However, there are some across other ethnocultural groups, as well. Something that we've made a focus of in our national outreach strategy is targeting indigenous, Black and racialized groups, because they can be affected by crime at a higher rate and we want to make sure that we reach them through a variety of means, intermediaries and organizations.

Justice committee  I can answer that. Just to address a few parts of your question, it's really important to us to treat victims of crime, their survivors and their families with courtesy, compassion and respect and to make sure that throughout the criminal justice process and throughout an offender's sentence they have an opportunity for information and to participate in the process.

Justice committee  It's the Canadian Families and Corrections Network, whom we work with closely.

Justice committee  They do, yes.