Thank you Mr. Chairman. The purpose of this amendment to the Corrections Act is to remove the requirement for mandatory participation of the warden in a disciplinary board established for each institution. It allows for the warden to appoint the members of the disciplinary board. Under section 20 (1) of the Corrections Act, the disciplinary board is established for each correctional centre consisting of the Warden and two other employees appointed by the Director of Correctional Services. The practice that has evolved is that the wardens appoint members to the disciplinary board.

Because of the considerable commitment of time required to participate in these hearings, wardens have delegated the responsibility to other staff at the correctional centre. However, the department has obtained a legal opinion which contradicts this established practice and concludes that a warden may not delegate his or her authority to sit on a disciplinary board.

The obvious person to identify the composition of a disciplinary board is the warden, rather than the director. While it may have made sense for appointments to be made by the director when YCC was the only institution in the territories, there are now institutions in Fort Smith, Hay River and Iqaluit. Decisions must be made quickly and must be based on the availability of staff. It is estimated that if the wardens are required to participate in hearings, it would involve a minimum of 20 percent of their time and up to as much as 40 percent for a larger correctional centre. If wardens are required to continue to be represented on disciplinary panels, it will compromise their capacity to manage the institutions effectively.

The amendments provide that disciplinary boards will be composed of either the warden and two employees appointed by the warden, or three employees appointed by the warden. This is consistent with the practice in other jurisdictions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.