Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, May 31, 2004, I will move that Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Education Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, May 31, 2004, I will move that Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Legal Profession Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The biggest problem, as I understand it, is with the RCMP being ready to implement. They need to have adequate, or their system upgraded somewhat in order to be able to provide access to the system, and it is through their computer system that this system operates. So until that is done, we are at a bit of a stalemate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has had a number of on-the-land programs available for inmates for quite some time. There has been some problem though finding enough inmates who are interested in taking this approach, or even getting themselves involved. So it hasn’t been one where we’ve had more inmates wanting to do it than we have space. It has been the other way around, unfortunately. I would agree with the Member that this would be a very good approach, and I think that it has a lot of long-term prospects for rehabilitation over straight incarceration, but we have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure when we expect the final report. The Tl'oondih Wellness Society is working on that report, and once we have received the report we will review it, meet with them and discuss future options. One of the other things that we are going to be doing though is monitoring the progress of the people who have gone through the program, and how they make out in their home communities over the next months and years. I hope we demonstrate that there has been some long-term success to this program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I won’t. I am satisfied that other than the usual problems you can expect when one facility shuts down and people are moved into a new facility, that there is nothing out of line there. The Member talks continually about morale problems, but the turnover at YCC has been less in the last fiscal year than the government-wide average is. So that doesn’t point to an issue of there being a widespread morale problem. So I don’t see the need for it right now. There were some concerns that the Member brought to the department about the operations of the health services...

Mr. Speaker, that level of detail I don’t have in terms of the staff complement of each facility, but I am sure the Member is aware of the corrections entry level training program which is in place at the facility and the practice has been to help people advance. There are other initiatives. We are, for instance, even in other facilities, working to provide mentorship and training for candidates to make sure they are prepared to become wardens. It’s not something new to the department or that facility. There is, in fact, a considerable amount of work that goes into providing assistance and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that individual was unavailable at the time that we wanted to have the audit work done. Rather than hold it up and wait until both were available, it was felt that the person from Corrections Canada was well qualified to conduct the audit or the review, and that is the reason that it went forward at the time it did. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in response to the first question, yes, I am aware that corrections officers do hand out medications to inmates, and to the supplementary, they are only handed out under the direction of medical staff, and only when officers have completed a training course.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, May 31, 2004, I will move that Bill 8, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendments Act, 2004, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.