Craig Jones of the John Howard Society of Canada presented a sobering report entitled Study of Federal Corrections: Mental Health and Addiction to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.  Among other things he focused on the evidence from the United States that mandatory minimum sentences had done little to help make communities safer while greatly increasing the incarceration rate.

For several years now the Conservative government has been trying to push their crime agenda that includes mandatory minimums and a crackdown on prohibited drugs including Marijuana despite a growing public trend towards legalization as well as the large amount of science supporting its benefits as a medicine.  An additional criticism of the conservative crime proposal was the growth of private jailing facilities and the creation of a 'cash for criminals' situation like in the United States where the Justice System is taken over by a for profit industry.

Along with mandatory minimums, Mr. Jones discussed the extremely high number of people (80%) who are in jail that have substance abuse disorders and or mental disorders, as he was concerned that the governments interest in mandatory minimums for drug offences would exacerbate this problem without providing any more safety to local communities. 

The testimony Mr. Jones provided  explicitly asked for substance abuse issues be dealt with as a health issue and not a criminal issue.

Here's a brief clip of some of his remarks: