Public Safety committee  I hear my buzzer going off. I apologize for that.

Public Safety committee  No, I agree with that. I think that many times the enforcement/oversight role of corrections can lead to some measure of distrust or lack of confidence from the prisoners and former prisoners. It is very important to have that human connection, where someone actually believes the

Public Safety committee  It's a great pleasure to be before the committee and to share John Howard's views about Bill C-228. John Howard Society, as many of you know, is a charity that serves more than 60 communities across Canada. It's committed to just, effective and humane responses to the causes and

Health committee  The John Howard Society of Canada is a charity committed to just, effective and humane criminal justice systems. I am grateful for the committee’s invitation to share our concerns about the response to the outbreak of coronavirus in Canada. For many Canadians, the pandemic has ca

Public Safety committee  I do agree that it's very important to find out what happened in this specific case. My concern was not against the study, but against the framing of the motion, which seemed to prejudge what was causal and what was connected with the death of this particular woman without the ev

Public Safety committee  I think there are a number of factors that go into it. I think having good case preparation, more focused programming, better support in the community, good links with community organizations that provide some support for people coming out all bode well for successful reintegrati

Public Safety committee  I was referring to the annual statistical report that's put out by the government that clearly shows an improvement in the numbers of those who are being released on day parole and full parole and a reduction in the recidivism rates of those who have been released. There's a good

Public Safety committee  Right.

Public Safety committee  People who come out at statutory release may not have had the preparatory programs and support to persuade the Parole Board that they are ready to be released, but they are coming out anyway. It is very important that we continue to support those people with programs and support.

Public Safety committee  The recidivism rate for people who've committed murder is one of the lowest recidivism rates that we know of. These tend to be one-off incidents. To go back to Monsieur Bensimon's case, our halfway houses have a lot of people who have committed murder in the past and are making

Public Safety committee  Thank you.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you, committee members, for the opportunity to be here. The John Howard Society of Canada would like to extend its condolences to the family and friends of Marylène Levesque. The death of a young woman is undeniably tragic, but to learn that s

Public Safety committee  Yes. If you looked at the way criminal records are dealt with in the youth justice system, you could see how it would look without the involvement of the Parole Board. That's a complete system that tells you who has access to it and when information can be disclosed, but basicall

Public Safety committee  Sure. I think the words receiving a pardon mean a lot to the people who get it, but it also hurts a lot more when they don't get it for some reason. I can tell you a number of John Howard clients are told they're not getting their record suspension or their pardon and then you ha

Public Safety committee  It's a closure.