Mr. Speaker, everyone says it is an exceptional program, but it is fighting a daily battle to stay alive.
It is called the Intercede Diversion Program and its goal is to break the cycle of crime that young people get pulled into. The program works.
A pilot project that led to intercede, an alternative to the court system, shows fewer than 9% of participants have gone on to re-offend, much lower than statistics coming from the court process.
It also saves the taxpayers a substantial amount of money. The average cost of putting a young person through intercede is $500 as compared to $2,500 to send them through court.
Intercede serves my riding and the entire region of Durham and has the support of nine provincial court judges in the area. Intercede reinforces the idea that every act has a consequence. It is a very valuable program and deserves our support.
I encourage my government to work with the provincial government in a expeditious manner so as to guarantee the future of intercede and similar programs across Canada.