KEY POINTS:
The hardest job for a Parole Board is to divine the future, and the worst thing that can happen is for that prediction to be proven wrong, a visiting expert says.
Renee Collette, the vice chairwoman of the Canadian Parole Board, is in this country to take part
in a training seminar for the New Zealand Parole Board.
The seminar was organised as part of the Parole Board's response to the case of Graeme Burton case - a murderer and prison escaper who was freed on parole last year and in January killed Wainuiomata man Karl Kuchenbecker.
Canada's Parole Board has gone through a similarly traumatic case in recent years. In 2004 Eli Ulayuk, a man serving a manslaughter conviction, sadistically killed his parole officer, Louise Pargeter.
Mrs Collette said a full report into the case found no one was at fault, but made 71 recommendations for both the Parole Board and the Corrections Department.
"It was one of the most thorough board investigations I've ever seen, and most of the recommendations were positive to help progress and make better decisions," she said.
As a result of the murder reforms such as parole officers being given greater security protection and officers being encouraged to identify offenders who could pose safety issues were introduced, and changes to risk assessment and analysis procedures were introduced.
The Ulayuk case had deeply saddened the board and caused immense distress to members closely involved with it, Mrs Collette said.
"We had a board member who ended up in hospital because she was really traumatised by what had happened and no one was really conscious of what was happening in her mind," Mrs Collette said.
"Now we have support systems in place in agreement with Health Canada, and they are going to provided us with a post traumatic expert who can help board members.
"We have to take care of board members when something like that happens because they really question themselves, they second guess themselves, and there is a reflex reaction to become less open or more conservative in cases after that. You don't want that to happen either, you want them to make good quality decisions."
Despite tragedies such as the Ulayuk and Burton cases, Mrs Collette said she was convinced of the virtue of the parole system.
"You have to stop, think, and then move on. Look at what you did, what happened, and try to explain and learn from it," she said.
"I am always amazed by the fact that people think that when you put someone in jail they disappear and don't exist any more... but one day the person will come back, and if we don't do anything it's going to be worse than if we do something. I think that staying silent and inactive is not an option."
