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Monday, February 25, 2019 (No. 386)

Report Stage of Bills

Bill C-83

An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act

Pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(5), the Speaker selected and grouped for debate the following motions:

Group No. 1 -- Motions Nos. 1 to 27.

Statement and selection by Speaker — see Debates of December 7, 2018.

Resuming Debate

Group No. 1

Motion No. 1 -- Question put separately. Its vote also applies to Motions Nos. 2, 4 to 8, 11, 18 to 21 and 23 to 27.

Motion No. 9 -- Question put only if Motion No. 1 is negatived. Its vote also applies to Motions Nos. 10 and 13 to 16.

Motion No. 17 -- Question put only if Motion No. 1 is negatived. Its vote also applies to Motions Nos. 3 and 22.

Motion No. 1 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 2.

Motion No. 2 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 3.

Motion No. 3 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 3, be amended by replacing line 5 on page 2 with the following:

paragraph 37.3(1)(b) or section 37.4 or 37.8 that the offender

Motion No. 4 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 4.

Motion No. 5 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 5.

Motion No. 6 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 6.

Motion No. 7 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 7.

Motion No. 8 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 8.

Motion No. 9 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by

(a) deleting lines 25 to 30 on page 8;

(b) replacing lines 1 to 3 on page 9 with the following:

(3) Before making a determination under this section, the institutional head shall visit the inmate.

(4) The institutional head shall maintain a record indicating the circumstances of every instance in which, because of security requirements, a visit was not face to face or took place through a cell door hatch.

(5) No later than one working day after the day on which he or she makes a determination under this section, the institution head shall orally notify the inmate of the determination as well as the reasons for it and no later than two working days after the day on which the determination was made, the institutional head shall provide the inmate with those reasons in writing.

Motion No. 10 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by

(a) replacing lines 11 to 18 on page 9 with the following:

registered health care professional shall provide advice to the committee established under subsection (3).

(2) The registered health care professional providing the advice is to be a senior registered health care profes-

(b) replacing lines 23 to 30 on page 9 with the following:

rank than that of institutional head for the purpose of making determination under section 37.32.

37.32 (1) As soon as practicable after the institutional head determines under subsection 37.3(2) that an inmate's conditions of confinement in a structured intervention unit should not be altered in accordance with the recommendations of a registered health care professional, the committee established under subsection

(2) As soon as practicable after the institutional head determines under paragraph 37.3(1)(a) that an inmate should remain in a

Motion No. 11 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83 be amended by deleting Clause 10.

Motion No. 13 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing lines 2 to 7 on page 6 with the following:

in which an inmate is authorized to be transferred into a structured intervention unit indicating the reasons for granting the authorization and any alternative that was considered.

(3) No later than one working day after the day on which the transfer of an inmate is authorized, the Service shall, orally, provide the inmate with notice that the authorization was granted as well as the reasons for it and no later than two working days after the day on which the transfer of an inmate is authorized, the Service shall provide the inmate with those reasons in writing.

Motion No. 14 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing lines 25 to 36 on page 7 with the following:

37.11 If a staff member or a person engaged by the Service believes that the confinement of an inmate in a structured intervention unit is having detrimental impacts on the inmate’s health, the staff member or person shall refer, in the prescribed manner, the inmate’s case to the portion of the Service that administers health care. Grounds for the belief include the inmate

(a) refusing to interact with others;

(b) engaging in self-injurious behaviour;

(d) showing signs of emotional distress or exhibiting behaviour that suggests that they are in urgent need of mental health care.

Motion No. 15 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing lines 16 to 23 on page 8 with the following:

Motion No. 16 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing line 10 on page 10 with the following:

and every 60 days after the Commissioner’s last determi-

Motion No. 17 — February 21, 2019 — , seconded by , — That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing lines 1 to 10 on page 11 with the following:

37.6 (1) The Minister shall appoint one or more persons to be independent external decision-makers.

(2) To be eligible for appointment as an independent external decision-maker, a person must have knowledge of administrative decision-making processes in general. A person is not eligible for appointment as an independent external decision-maker if the person was, at any time, in the previous five years a staff member or appointed under subsection 6(1).

(3) An independent external decision-maker is to be appointed for a renewable term of not more than five years and holds office during good behaviour, but may be removed at any time for cause by the Minister.

(4) An independent external decision-maker may be appointed to serve either full-time or part-time.

37.61 An independent external decision-maker is to be paid

(a) the remuneration that is fixed by the Treasury Board; and

(b) in accordance with Treasury Board directives, any travel and living expenses that they incur in the performance of their duties and functions while absent from their ordinary place of work, in the case of a full-time decision-maker, and their ordinary place of residence, in the case of a part-time decision-maker.

37.7 (1) The Service shall furnish to an independent external decision-maker all information under the Service’s control that is relevant to the making of a determination in respect of an inmate by the independent external decision-maker.

(2) For the purpose of making a determination in respect of an inmate, an independent external decision-maker may require any staff member, or any person whose services are engaged by or on behalf of the Service,

(a) to furnish any information that, in the decision-maker’s opinion, the staff member or person may be able to furnish in relation to the inmate’s case; and

(b) to produce, for examination by the decision-maker, any document or thing that, in the decision-maker’s opinion, relates to the inmate’s case and that may be in the possession or under the control of the staff member or person.

(3) Within 10 days after the day on which an independent external decision-maker makes a determination, the decision-maker shall return to the Service any document or thing furnished under subsection (1) or paragraph (2)(a) or produced under paragraph (2)(b), as well as any copy of one.

37.71 (1) Before making a determination in respect of an inmate, an independent external decision-maker shall provide or cause to be provided to the inmate, in writing, in whichever of the two official languages of Canada is requested by the inmate, the information that is to be considered by the decision-maker or a summary of that information, other than information provided to the independent external decision-maker by the inmate.

(2) The independent external decision-maker may withhold from the inmate as much information as is strictly necessary if the independent external decision-maker has reasonable grounds to believe that

(a) the information should not be disclosed on the grounds of public interest; or

(b) the disclosure of the information would jeopardize the safety of any person, the security of a penitentiary or the conduct of any lawful investigation.

37.72 Before making a determination in respect of an inmate, an independent external decision-maker shall ensure that the inmate is given an opportunity to make written representations to the independent external decision-maker.

37.73 For the purpose of making a determination in respect of an inmate, an independent external decision-maker may communicate with the inmate.

37.74 (1) Subject to subsection (2), an independent external decision-maker shall not disclose any information that comes to their knowledge in the course of the exercise of their powers, or the performance of their duties and functions, under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

(2) An independent external decision-maker may disclose information referred to in subsection (1) in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions.

37.75 An independent external decision-maker is not a competent or compellable witness in any civil proceedings in respect of any matter coming to their knowledge in the course of the exercise or purported exercise of their powers, or the performance or purported performance of their duties and functions, under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

37.76 No criminal or civil proceedings lie against an independent external decision-maker for anything done, reported or said in good faith in the course of the exercise or purported exercise of any power, or the performance or purported performance of any duty or function, of the independent external decision-maker under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

37.77 An independent external decision-maker may, in accordance with regulations made under paragraph 96(g.1), publish or otherwise disseminate information, other than personal information, relating to any determination made by the independent external decision-maker.

37.8 Thirty days after each of the Commissioner’s determinations under section 37.4 that an inmate should remain in a structured intervention unit, an independent external decision-maker shall, in accordance with regulations made under paragraph 96(g.1), determine whether the inmate should remain in the unit.

37.81 If a committee established under subsection 37.31(3) determines that an inmate should remain in a structured intervention unit or determines that an inmate’s conditions of confinement in the structured intervention unit should not be altered in accordance with a recommendation of a registered health care professional under section 37.2, an independent external decision-maker shall, as soon as practicable, in accordance with regulations made under paragraph 96(g.1), determine whether the inmate should remain in the unit or whether the inmate’s conditions of confinement in the unit should be altered.

37.82 (1) The independent external decision-maker may determine under sections 37.8 and 37.81 that an inmate should remain in a structured intervention unit only if the independent external decision-maker believes on reasonable grounds that allowing the inmate’s reintegration into the mainstream inmate population

(a) would jeopardize the safety of the inmate or any other person or the security of the penitentiary; or

(b) would interfere with an investigation that could lead to a criminal charge or a charge under subsection 41(2) of a serious disciplinary offence.

(2) In making the determination, the independent external decision-maker shall take into account

(a) the inmate’s correctional plan;

(b) the appropriateness of the inmate’s confinement in the penitentiary;

(d) any other consideration that he or she considers relevant.

37.83 (1) If, for five consecutive days or for a total of 15 days during any 30-day period, an inmate confined in a structured intervention unit has not spent a minimum of four hours a day outside the inmate’s cell or has not interacted, for a minimum of two hours a day, with others, an independent external decision-maker shall, as soon as practicable, determine whether the Service has taken all reasonable steps to provide the inmate with the opportunities referred to in subsection 36(1) and to encourage the inmate to avail themselves of those opportunities.

(2) If the independent external decision-maker determines that the Service has not taken all reasonable steps, he or she may make any recommendation to the Service that he or she considers appropriate to remedy the situation.

(3) If the Service, within the period of seven days commencing on the day on which it receives recommendations, fails to satisfy the independent external decision-maker that it has taken all reasonable steps to provide the inmate with the opportunities referred to in subsection 36(1), the independent external decision-maker shall direct the Service to remove the inmate from the structured intervention unit and provide a notice of the direction to the Correctional Investigator as defined in Part III.

37.9 An independent external decision-maker may, in the prescribed circumstances, make a prescribed determination or review in the prescribed manner.

37.91 (1) The transfer of an inmate to a structured intervention unit must be completed not later than five working days after the day on which the authorization for the transfer is given. Until the transfer is completed, the Service may impose restrictions on the inmate’s movement and sections 33, 35 to 37.4 and 37.81 to 37.83 apply with any necessary modifications in respect of the inmate as though the inmate were in a structured intervention unit. However, the opportunity referred to in paragraph 36(1)(b) is to be provided only if the circumstances permit.

Recommendation

(Pursuant to Standing Order 76.1(3))

Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the following amendment to Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act: That Bill C-83, in Clause 10, be amended by replacing lines 1 to 10 on page 11 with the following: