Mr. Chairman, in my opinion, this is a good program. The people who are familiar with this camp, especially the one in Fort Providence, all agree the Wilderness Camp Program is a good program. However, there does not seem to be easy access to these camps. The people we are talking about who request to take this program and go to these camps are for the most part aboriginal people. We have a good success rate.
I do not know if I agree with some of the explanation where the deputy minister is stating that some of these people do not qualify to go. At some point, these people in the correctional facilities are going to be released. The ones I have talked to all have informed me that they have tried to get into the program. Even when they knew they had a release date of two or three months, they still wanted to take this program on the tail end of their sentence. However, they were not given that privilege.
If they are considered to be reformed, or whatever the assessment determines so that they can be released, surely they can be released into a camp for the last portion of their sentence, but we are not even getting that.
I do not know if there is a good explanation. I think there is a problem with the process and the system. If these people are on the verge of being released, I would think they could get into the camp program. There are very few of them getting into our camps. Our camps are being forced to shut down because they cannot get the people in the facilities. A lot of these communities and individuals have invested a lot of money into these facilities. We are not getting the response.
I do not know if I agree with that argument. I am not sure if this question was raised before, but I see it is being advertised for additional facilities. I am wondering if the Minister can explain what is happening there.