Status of Women committee  The board is actually in the process. A number of board members were recently appointed, and progress is being made by the government, I think, led by PCO, with respect to board member—

Status of Women committee  The Parole Board of Canada has board members who make decisions with respect to conditional release parole. The implementation of programs directly with offenders is under the purview of the Correctional Service of Canada, but my colleague, Michelle Van De Bogart, who's the actin

Status of Women committee  I think, generally, if you look at the program and the effectiveness, that's.... The Correctional Service of Canada, because they implement the programs, look at accrediting the programs and assessing their validity and effectiveness. From the board's perspective, board members

Status of Women committee  The board wouldn't necessarily be involved in looking at the program integrity of the Correctional Service programs.

Status of Women committee  Again, the board views programs as very important. I think we understand that programs are an integral part of an offender's success and reintegration. We understand that. Again, we work with the Correctional Service of Canada so that board members understand the various progra

Status of Women committee  We think they're very important.

Status of Women committee  I would agree with that. I think victims are an integral part of the criminal justice process and conditional release. For the board itself, board members consider information that's provided by victims. We've had victims observing at our hearings, and even predating the introd

Status of Women committee  I have just one note. Participation in a program isn't necessarily a requirement to see the Parole Board. For offenders, part of the consideration is whether they were able to participate in the full program or have completed it. It would be up to an offender to decide whether o

Status of Women committee  I couldn't comment specifically on that particular case, of course. We do know that the logistics within institutions can be complicated and complex. Again, from our side, from the board's perspective, board members take into consideration a lot of information as part of their

Status of Women committee  The board and the Correctional Service of Canada work with victims. They register with us to receive information about offenders. We have more than 8,000 registered victims. Those victims can attend parole hearings and observe. They can also present statements at our parole hea

Status of Women committee  The information is always of value for board members. What victims identify is the impact of the offence on them. The board always could impose conditions specific to victims, such as no contact, but as part of the legislative changes that occurred last year with the victims bill

Status of Women committee  Yes, the 16% represents of all elder-assisted hearings. Women offenders and indigenous women offenders are a very small proportion of the total offender population, so that's where you'll see that 16% being a smaller number. Over the 25 years that we've had elder-assisted hearing

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for this invitation to appear before you today. We welcome this opportunity to contribute to your study. Joining me today is Michelle Van De Bogart, acting chief operating officer and the portfolio lead for indigenous initiati

Justice committee  As you mentioned, it hasn't been tabled, so I'm unable to.

Justice committee  Yes. You're correct. They continue to be serving a life sentence. They continue to be under the supervision of the Correctional Service of Canada and they're subject to conditions, and special conditions in certain instances, and their parole can be revoked so that they can be r