Senator Denise Batters from Saskatchewan.

Thanks to all of you for being here. My first question is for Ms. Kish from the Canadian Elizabeth Fry Societies. What I would like to get at is, what is your impression is the suitability of the 48-hour limit in the context of extended stays.

Considering that data indicates that between November 2019 and November 2021, about a quarter of the inmates in structured intervention units, or SIUs, were detained for over two months, and 20% stayed in the structured intervention unit for between one and five days, I’m wondering if you think the 48-hour limit set by Bill S-230 for a stay in and is realistic and sufficient to meet the needs of inmates and the management requirements for those SIUs.

Ms. Latimer, if you have a short answer to add to that.

Thank you.

Back to Ms. Kish, as the Associate Executive Director of the Canadian Elizabeth Fry Societies, how do you assess risks to the safety and well-being of inmates, particularly those who are vulnerable or threatened within the prison population, in the case of delays and processing extension requests by the superior courts for stays in structured intervention units? What urgent protective measures would you recommend for those inmates?

Ms. Campbell, with your experience as former Director General, Corrections and Criminal Justice Directorate for a very lengthy period of time, I’m wondering if you could share your perspective about the justification of the 48-hour limit in the Structured Intervention Units established by Bill S-230.

Thank you to all of you for being here. You have always provided very valuable advice to our committee for many years, so thank you for that.

First of all, I want to start with Mr. Spratt. There were 3,734 inmates who transited through a structured intervention unit from November 2019 to November 2021. How would you evaluate the impact of that kind of volume on the extension requests in superior courts?

We’ve obviously been dealing with court delays. It’s been quite a crisis in this country for a number of years already, and I know you’ve been here many times talking about that. I wonder if you think the current judicial system is equipped to effectively handle such a volume of cases.

Thank you.

Mr. Spratt, the amendment that you were suggesting in your opening remarks about allowing prisoners who are subject to this bill to retain counsel at legal aid rates, when you initially mentioned it, I thought, “Yes, that’s a good idea; that has merit,” but then after thinking about it a little bit, I have a concern that because this is a private senator’s bill, and, as such, it’s not allowed to spend money without a Royal Recommendation, would you agree that that could be a concern with respect to that particular element?