Public Safety committee  Absolutely. There are good practices around the world, and many south of the border. As much as we like to demonize U.S. corrections, there are some very good practices. There's the way that U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, for example, deals with compassionate release for elderly

Public Safety committee  Sure. The principles are clearly set out in the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Public Safety committee  There are a number of challenges, but there is a tremendous willingness, frankly, on the part of many health operators at the provincial level to engage in discussions about how to meet those challenges. They're often dealing with the same people. Many women who are federally inc

Public Safety committee  Certainly. It depends at what point in the criminal justice process we're talking about. Talking about post-sentence only, for somebody who has received a sentence of more than two years, then you can begin your discharge planning immediately, and you can begin to prepare people

Public Safety committee  Yes, absolutely. My role is not really to issue a pass or fail with Correctional Service Canada. We're not an inspectorate, as they say. We respond primarily to complaints and maladministration. Often what you hear from me is commentary about negative findings. I think it's also

Public Safety committee  Yes, the early evidence was very encouraging in terms of a decrease both in blood-borne transmission of diseases and in the cost of treatment of those diseases, particularly hepatitis C, but there are also concerns about HIV/AIDS. The safer tattoo practices pilot project was very

Public Safety committee  Well, as I say, before it was finalized. I think it's safe to say that people were encouraged and then were surprised when it was cancelled.

Public Safety committee  No.

Public Safety committee  I know this is a time-worn analogy, so forgive me, but think of the corrections system as a great big balloon that is squeezed in one place but pops up someplace else. We can transfer funds. The more we rely on incarceration, the more expensive things become, particularly the mor

Public Safety committee  Now you're asking me to get into politics. If I were to comment, I'd say no.

Public Safety committee  Yes, I believe it would. I believe there's evidence to support that position.

Public Safety committee  Correctional Service Canada currently operates five regional psychiatric centres. The one in Saskatoon is the only national resource that Correctional Service operates that has capacity for women. That capacity is now standing at 20 beds. In addition to that capacity provided and

Public Safety committee  Frequently, when they're caught. There are throwovers. There are all kinds of examples of very clever ways that people try to introduce contraband into federal penitentiaries. We know there's no such thing as a drug-free prison, so it's always a matter of having a balance of appr

Public Safety committee  I don't know of any prison anywhere that is contraband-free.

Public Safety committee  I wouldn't know how to do that, and the Correctional Service of Canada wouldn't know how to do that either.