Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): I thank the honourable senator for his question. Members of the Parole Board of Canada and the panels that are established to assess specific cases in different regions work within a legislative framework, which means they must take into consideration the recommendations of correctional institution workers and those who keep track of the people involved in the process.

Parole Board members make independent decisions free from interference by the federal government or even by their team supervisor. This system relies on the members’ independence.

The minister will look into the tragedy that happened in Saskatchewan and we will be very interested to learn what he finds.

Senator Boisvenu: Senator Gold, in 2018, the Auditor General released a scathing report on the Parole Board and Correctional Service Canada. He identified some significant deficiencies regarding the supervision of offenders in the community. Will you present in this chamber, as soon as possible, the action plan that the Parole Board and Correctional Service Canada implemented in response to the recommendations that the Auditor General made four years ago?

Senator Gold: I will inquire with the government to see whether that is accessible. I do want to point out, however, that there’s a big difference between decisions made by the tribunals and those made by the Parole Board. The Parole Board itself does not do the monitoring. This is done by the Correctional Service of Canada. That said, I’ll look into it and will report back in this place.