Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is an area where committee felt strongly that the department was falling down as well. When inmates come in, they need to be assessed. They then need the programming that will assist them in getting better, to try and solve the problem of why they’re in there in the first place. But when they are released, they need to have supports so that don’t re-offend and end up back in correctional facilities.

So, this motion tries to highlight the fact that there is very little planning for inmate release and reintegration back into their community and it is important enough to the committee that we want to tell the department to put a much larger focus on inmate release and reintegration and we are suggesting that they look at having a dedicated staff person who does nothing but coordination for reintegration of inmates on their release. Thank you, Mr. Chair.