Its terms of reference, announced in the House on April 9, were: To study the broad field of corrections, in its widest sense, from the initial investigation of an offence through to the final discharge of a prisoner from imprisonment or parole, including such steps and measures as arrest, summonsing, bail, representation in Court, conviction, probation, sentencing, training, medical and psychiatric attention, release, parole, pardon, post release supervision and guidance and rehabilitation; to recommend as conclusions are reached, what changes, if any, should be made in the law and practice relating to these matters in order better to assure the protection of the individual and, where possible, his rehabilitation, having in mind always adequate protection for the community; and to consider and recommend upon any matters necessarily ancillary to the foregoing and such related matters as may later be referred to the Committee; but excluding consideration of specific offences except where such consideration bears directly upon any of the above mentioned matters.
[2] The title refers to its main, general finding, which was a need for “more effective cooperation among law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and the corrections services,” as well as to the fact that it was more broad-ranging than previous criminal-justice committees.
[4] A punitive approach does less to address the protection of all members of society, which is “the only justifiable purpose of the criminal process in contemporary Canada.”[2] The report continued on the work began by the Archambault Commission 30 years earlier.
Though she stated that she agreed with all of the report's conclusions, she felt two issues needed further attention: federal/provincial division of responsibility, and the potential for actors outside the criminal-justice system to combat anti-social behaviour.
[4][5] Two days after it was made public, an editorial in the national newspaper The Globe and Mail called the final report “an impressive effort to find more just means of dealing with law-breakers”.