Doug Naish

Director, Community and Victim Services
Correctional Service Division

Good afternoon. What I really want to do is to begin by reinforcing some comments that the Minister just made. I have three statements that I want to make that relate to this. Number one, the vast majority of offenders in all jurisdictions are already dealt with through community sanctions. In other words, we are not inventing community corrections here this afternoon. That is the status quo for all of this country and most of the western world. Community corrections is the choice of the sanctions for most offenders. However, having said that I also believe, as the Minister has indicated, that some offenders do require incarceration in order to protect society. But that is a relatively small number. Thirdly, and probably most importantly in the area that we wish to work in is the fact that most jurisdictions still over incarcerate low-risk offenders. And I guess that is a theme that we have heard over and over again already today.

Just a few statistical comments, backing up what the Minister has already said. In 1994/95 Canada wide 77% of the total correctional case load was under some form of community supervision. But the most telling thing is that only 12% of the total correctional operating budget was devoted to those 77%. The remaining 88% of the budget, for about 1.7 Billion dollars was spent on incarceration. I think that speaks for itself with all of the other comments you have heard today. The Minister has already indicated, and we have a chart up there which you should look very carefully at, Canada does incarcerate at a very high rate compared to the rest of the western world. I think one thing you have to look at though, it is only one third of the rate in the United States but it is three times the rate in countries like the Netherlands, Iceland, and other European countries. In fact, if you see the list there, there are ten or fifteen countries that incarcerate at a lower rate then we do in Canada. So I guess what my message is about is that we should not take any comfort whatsoever in the fact that we do not incarcerate as many people as they do in the United States. I read something in Time magazine on the weekend which said that in 1984 in the United States, one in every four hundred and fifty people were incarcerated. In 1994 it was one in every one hundred and seventy-five people. That in itself is staggering if you put that into perspective of a nation the size of the United States.

Again what I think we need to look at and what we need to understand is how many European countries can be safe with relatively low incarceration rates. I have not travelled widely, but for those who I have spoken to who have and are familiar, and I hope Mr. Edwards will be able to enlighten us tonight some what on that subject manner, find that there are ways and means to have safe communities without incarcerating high numbers of fellow citizens.

Looking at New Brunswick in the Canadian context, I pulled out a couple of other dimensions which I think are important, and that relate New Brunswick to other parts of the country. What I wanted to look at was the rate of adult sentenced admissions to custody. What I found in 1994/95 was that the rate for New Brunswick was sixty-four per ten thousand of the population; the Canadian average was fifty-three. So right away we are above the Canadian average of our utilization of incarceration. Five jurisdictions in Canada have rates less than the average, less than fifty three. And just by way of close comparison, Nova Scotia's rate was thirty-nine, which is about 60% of the rate of which New Brunswickers incarcerate their offenders. Just to draw a bit of a comparison to probation, which is still the major community corrections sanction both nationally and internationally, the national probation intake rate is thirty-six per ten thousand adults. In New Brunswick our intake rate was twenty-nine per ten thousand adults, the second lowest among Canadian jurisdictions. By comparison, again our next door neighbours, Nova Scotia's was fifty-four which is almost double the rate of New Brunswick in terms of placing people on probation. I guess one quick conclusion you could draw is that in New Brunswick we seem to be over incarcerating and at the same time under utilizing a sanction such as probation. I would offer a word of caution though, because I think in looking at this data its dangerous to over simplify the analysis of data - there are lots of factors that contribute to those figures. Without drawing any definitive conclusions from the information, it is my belief that in New Brunswick there is still considerable safe leeway to expand the use of community based alternatives to incarceration. And as Mary Beth Beaton mentioned this morning, the Parliament of Canada seems to agree with us by going forward with Bill C-41. The creation of the new community corrections sanction, at least new for Canada in terms of a conditional sentence, I think says to us that we are moving in the right direction and that we will now have a legislative framework that will assist us in moving in that direction.

Again, I want to re-emphasize the latest Statistics Canada information in relation to the crime rate in New Brunswick, and just to lend my voice to the voices already raised earlier about the importance of differentiating between the actual level of crime and the perception of the public of crime, much of which is garnered from the popular media. I think one of the most important challenges is to get the real information in the hands of the people whose support we require in order to move further in community corrections. Excluding things like alternative measures, fines and fine option, we still are only incarcerating one out of seven offenders, even in New Brunswick where I am suggesting that we are not doing as well as some other parts of the country provincially. I think when I look at that though, I think with a little more commitment, some creativity and community ownership we can change that relationship from one to seven to one to ten without sacrificing anyone's safety within the community. I think we have the technology and the means to do that, and I think that is what we ought to be doing.

We are going to be hearing from three more panelists who will speak to you from different perspectives about what community corrections means to them in the context of the work which they do and the communities they represent. But I do want to leave you with a few thoughts about what I think community corrections might be, or could be or should be in relation to what we have talked about today. With a broader view it can encompass a myriad of activities and interventions to prevent offending and reoffending, and to change the behaviour and prospects of many "at risk" citizens, especially our children. Community corrections might be, and I suggest to you that it is, pre and post natal care, parenting skills training, and hot lunches for school children. I think it could be and should be skills training and sustainable employment for young people. And my personal pet project, I think it should be universal daycare for those who require it. I was postulating the other night when I was looking at that 1.7 billion number and I was saying to myself "don't take this as a criticism but it is a statement of fact". If we spent the posed 700 million dollars on child care what would that infusion of money at that level do to change the 1.7 billion dollars that we are spending on incarceration, and how long would it take to cycle through? I think that is a very interesting proposition and I think we need to look at that.

Finally, I want to reinforce one other thing the Minister said and that I hoped you picked up on as it is extremely important - and this is putting on my victim services hat. The number of offenders who are themselves victim of abuse in its many forms is absolutely staggering. Not only in provincial institutions, not only in young offender institutions, but also in federal penitentiaries and through out community corrections. I think that the enhancement of community corrections has got to be a key contributor to the eventual elimination of family violence in its many forms. I think without that we won't reach our objective - to preempt the entry to the criminal justice system by meeting the criminogenic needs of potential offenders before they become offenders. Thank you very much.

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© 2007 Atlantic Human Rights Centre, St. Thomas University