Human Resources committee  I would consider the absence of employment insurance--something that people feel they have paid into and previously would have had access to and now don't--would be another hurdle to cross in terms of cultivating a belief in pro-social attitudes, a belief that people can be redee

Human Resources committee  You raise a very interesting point. I think the position of the John Howard Society is that people who have paid into the scheme should stand as equals to one another. If someone else has done something that disentitles them to get to work or incapacitates them to get to work, wh

Human Resources committee  These people are not interested in resigning. They would prefer to be at work, but they're facing an incapacity in the same way that somebody who has a broken leg--

Human Resources committee  My answer was that convicted felons should have the same entitlements to employment insurance as others have.

Human Resources committee  That's not entirely true, because there are areas where those entitlement periods are deferred. You're just excluding this group from what had been their entitlement to a deferral. You're dropping those sections that allow those who are behind bars to defer their option. You're c

Human Resources committee  Well, if they did break the law, they would be entitled to it. It's available to anybody.

Human Resources committee  First of all, I'd like to say I don't think we are offside in terms of believing that there should be fair and proportionate accountability when there is criminal wrongdoing. I think we all would know that justice requires that fair and proportionate penalties be imposed. I thin

Human Resources committee  I think the public attitudes on offenders have been harsh and are mellowing. I think they are starting to get better information about what the fiscal and economic and social costs are of a punishment agenda, as opposed to one that actually is guided by rehabilitation and reinteg

Human Resources committee  The profile is very similar. It draws from those who have been marginalized for various reasons: lower socio-economic status, high levels of brain injury, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and more and more mental health issues being presented in the federal system. I'm sure you'v

Human Resources committee  I said 13 times. It's huge.

Human Resources committee  I think you raise a very interesting point. We are talking about availability for work, but what this legislation is doing is removing an exemption, under which the clock would stop ticking on that period of availability until the person was available for work, until he would no

Human Resources committee  I beg your pardon? They didn't choose to stop work. They are incapacitated by the state. They've been subjected to a penalty, which precludes them from having access to their place of employment. But these people and their employers have both paid into an insurance scheme. So w

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. It's great to be back before the committee. As you know, the John Howard Society of Canada is a community-based charity whose mission it is to support effective, just, and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime. The society is celebrating i

Public Safety committee  Many people who have been in conflict with the law have a myriad of problems, whether it's addiction, whether it's mental health, whether it's family issues. There are all kinds of problems. What we would consider to be a more humane approach is to actually have person-to-person

Public Safety committee  It would alleviate some of my concerns. But going back to John's point, does human contact alone have equal or better results than electronic monitoring plus human contact? If so, you could save a lot of money if you just went with human contact monitoring. If you need to buttre