Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The honourable Member wanted to know which camps are existing and so forth.
In the Inuvik region, there are a number of them. There is Ester McLeod who has a capacity for two, with a current residence of one. Fred Dyck has the capacity for two, with a current residence of three. Edward Lennie, James Rogers and Rita Allen all have a capacity for two.
In Hay River, Kim Silverthorn has a capacity for one. In Fort McPherson, Eileen Koe has a capacity for two. These are alternate homes as well as on the land camps. In Snare Lakes, there is Alphonse Apples, who has a capacity for four. In Fort Smith, we have Charles Burke with a capacity for eight. On Simpson Islands, out of Hay River, Jerry Morin has the capacity for eight. In Fort Providence, Degas Gautienne has a capacity for two, but could hold up to three. Also in Inuvik, James Maring has a capacity for two. In Aklavik, Walter Alexcy has a capacity for two, with both spots open. Also in Inuvik, there is a Turning Point residence, an alcohol committee, which has a capacity for ten. This is not a camp, but an alternate home. These are the facilities.
Youth alternate homes are as follows: Inuvik, Tuma Drive Open Custody, capacity for six; Yellowknife, School Draw Open Custody, capacity for eight. These are alternate homes. Basically, these are some of the facilities that have been identified to me.
In response to the honourable Member's concern about the inmates having to choose which camp they wish to go to, which may be affecting the viability of some of the operators, the department has two concerns about inmate placement in camps. Inmates can only be placed in camps by way of temporary absence. These are for, I believe, adult inmates. The only way they can go to these camps is through a temporary absence. This is the only method by which a convicted offender can legally be allowed to leave the correctional centre before he or she has served his or her time.
According to the rules that were in place, an offender cannot be forced to go to a temporary absence. All temporary absences are entirely voluntary according to the way we conduct this program. Therefore, whoever wants to go to a camp, it is equally voluntary which camp they will attend. If the offender decides, for whatever reason, that they do not wish to go to a camp, they cannot be forced to go. In some instances, the offender or the inmate population has made this decision. People who wish to operate a camp have also been unable to do so.
The department has discovered through experience that persuading inmates to go to a camp they do not wish to go to does not necessarily work. It has been the experience of the department that shortly after the arrival at any camp where they do not want to be, the inmates will request a return to the correctional centre. For the safety of themselves and the operators, as well as because of the voluntary nature of the temporary absence, their request to return to the centre must be granted. The cost of transportation of moving the inmates back and forth is quite high in some cases, if you are taking them out on the land.
These are some of the concerns the department was faced with. The main point here is that the method by which the inmates can legally be allowed to leave is through a temporary absence. Thank you.