Public Safety committee  The overrepresentation in the institutions right now is due to the lack of willingness or desire to have the indigenous or Black populations moved into medium and minimum security. Most of our healing lodges are sitting empty as well, because there is that control factor that C

Public Safety committee  Currently, they have a one-size-fits-all program, which is not appropriate for other cultures. The cultural perspective, in my opinion, is not taken into consideration. The only way things are going to be effective is by having that perspective. The way I find information out i

Public Safety committee  It's probably the same.

Public Safety committee  They need that cultural perspective in order to reach people.

Public Safety committee  From my experience travelling around the institutions, faith-based and cultural perspectives are very crucial for the indigenous population, because a lot of the fellas now coming into prisons don't really know about their culture. Once they make that connection.... There's a bet

Public Safety committee  Good morning, everyone. To touch on your question, Pam, in looking at the criteria for accessing this program, they are very restrictive for indigenous women. There's nothing cultural about the criteria, and it's almost a barrier for them to access this program. Family is very i

Public Safety committee  Yes, they have better outcomes, because they're not always worried about their family. They see their child, and they want to do more for themselves because they start building that mother-child connection. They want to do more for their children. In that sense, to me, it's reall

Public Safety committee  The circle would be beneficial, because everybody involved is there and it's done really well. There would be a benefit to going back. However, in remote areas, they do have to go with the conferencing.

Public Safety committee  Yes, I do.

Public Safety committee  Yes. If they're going to spend money on the programs, they need to focus on programs coming from the cultural perspective. They also have to look at indigenous program officers who can deliver the programs. That's very effective.

Public Safety committee  I would hope so. I do believe they need a degree now to become a correctional officer, so I'm not sure. A recruitment drive and things such as that do help. In my role, I do some speaking. I'm doing my master's degree in law and legal studies at Carleton University. I go to the c

Public Safety committee  I can speak to one of them. Regarding the continuum of care that appears to be non-existent with CSC, I think that if there was a refocusing in terms of continuum of care, we would not see the numbers of revocations that we see now.

Public Safety committee  Yes. When they are leaving the institution, there should be some kind of connection to the community. This is what the indigenous inmates are having an issue with, because there is really no plan to go into the community.

Public Safety committee  Well, there is somewhat of a plan, but I don't think it's a very detailed plan in terms of release into the community. They do have to find employment or maybe go to school, and there is a shortage in community residential facilities. There is a lot of funding that isn't there. Y

Public Safety committee  I believe so. In speaking with the indigenous fellows at the healing lodges, I hear a disconnect from their history. Oftentimes they leave the reserve and get into conflict with the law, and then there are some issues. When they finally start going to programs that are indigenou