Public Safety committee  I just have a couple of comments and then I'll let Ms. Garrow talk about her recent meetings. We're really looking at encouraging them to come inside our facilities, bring these discussions about their needs, and also to bring their money—I'm going to be quite blunt about that.

Public Safety committee  They have a lot of money. So bring your money and come and train the offenders in whatever it is that you need in terms of the kind of work that you're doing out in the community. Our early-day discussions are as simple as that. We have a workforce. I have a Canadian workforce.

Public Safety committee  Yes, it's about six or seven minutes long.

Public Safety committee  That's a very good point, a very good observation. The one thing I will say, and we actually very, very strongly believe this, is that just providing offenders with employment skills is not going to solve their problems. They're in prison and penitentiaries for other reasons, so

Public Safety committee  I think what we see happening in our shops, for example, is that our staff reinforce that. They reinforce that they are working in an environment with other people, reinforcing the very point you made earlier about using good prosocial skills. We're also working with community

Public Safety committee  I don't think I would make as broad-sweeping a statement as was just made, Mr. Chair. I know that many people who work in the construction field are as law-abiding as everybody in this room. I understand the point that you're making, and one could argue that this exists in many d

Public Safety committee  That's definitely part of it. The program itself was not necessarily leading to the direct kind of opportunities that were needed in the marketplace.

Public Safety committee  Work release is just an option for correctional officials to consider in terms of providing opportunities to offenders. They have a shelf life. They have a very specific timeframe—I think it's 60 days—that a work release can occur. There are some exceptional opportunities for ext

Public Safety committee  No. Work release continues to be an option available to correctional officials at the institutional level, but there has to be a right match in terms of the offender, any kind of opportunity, and the kind of support. It needs to fit in with their correctional plan in terms of any

Public Safety committee  I don't think you're suggesting this, but there is no direction to stop using work release. Work release continues to be a viable option as part of the overall correctional continuum. There is no directive to stop using work release.

Public Safety committee  In terms of the specific tracking on the training and the alignment with the jobs, we don't collect those kinds of statistics; this is something that we're looking at going forward. We're able to determine if an individual has gotten employment out in the community, but not wheth

Public Safety committee  I just might add, we'd have to be very selective of where we do those kinds of opportunities you're talking about. Those would be the kinds of things we'd pursue in minimum security facilities or on community release. The last thing I want is big, heavy machinery inside my secure

Public Safety committee  To add to Ms. Garrow's list of work that's going on is the collaborative approach we've been taking with first nations communities, as I mentioned earlier. They have economic development money. They have housing needs. Again, we have the manpower and the woman power. We have a go

Public Safety committee  I am very familiar with the program, and we looked at extending it several times and trying to weigh that in terms of the overall inventory of the needs of the offenders and the kinds of activities that we could put in place. We've worked very closely with Camosun College, and co

Public Safety committee  If I could add to that, one of the challenges for us, particularly in the Prairie region, is aboriginal women. With a number of aboriginal women returning to their first nations communities and the employment opportunities in those communities being next to nil, there are challen