Mr. Speaker, I am honoured once again to rise in the House pursuant to Standing Order 36 and present a petition of over 1,000 names on behalf of citizens concerned about the Young Offenders Act.
This petition is not only from my own riding of Kent but from Essex-Kent, Windsor West and Windsor-St. Clair, Lambton and Sarnia. It states that crimes committed on society by young offenders are on a serious uprise and the young offenders go virtually unpunished due to protection under the Young Offenders Act, whereas they lack respect for the law and fellow citizens, whereas there is no remorse or shame on the part of the young offender.
Wherefore, the undersigned, the petitioners, humbly pray and call upon Parliament to review and revise its laws concerning young offenders by empowering the courts to prosecute and punish the young law breakers who are terrorizing our society by releasing their names and lowering the age limit to allow prosecution to meet the severity of the crime.