Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words on this important piece of legislation, Bill C-68. There are many aspects of this bill that are a major step forward in dealing with people who run afoul of the law.
I listened with interest to my friend from the Reform Party. I must say I agree with him on one point. Actually, I agree with him on many points. He said that young people age 16 and 17 are very mature people.
I have visited possibly hundreds of schools over the last number of years and have talked to young people age 16 and 17. I am convinced that in most cases they are as mature and knowledgeable about issues as most of their parents. Let us face it. There are some goofy young people, but there are also some goofy older people; people who do not think too much about things, or who are a little emotional or a little bit off the wall or whatever. We could find them in a classroom as well. On balance, when it comes to making mature decisions, when it comes to taking life seriously, the world seriously, their studies seriously, their arts, sports or whatever seriously, 16 and 17 year old young people are adult minded.
It brings to mind a discussion we have had many times about what is the appropriate age for voting. It is fair to say that at the moment somebody somewhere decided people have to be 18 to cast an intelligent ballot in Canada. I see my friend from Toronto and I know he would agree that most of us in the House believe that most young people who are age 16 and 17, given an opportunity to take federal or provincial politics seriously and vote in an election, would in fact do that.
As a matter of fact the record shows in those countries where people are able to vote at age 16 or 17 the participation rate is higher than that of their parents. The evidence is clear that when we expect young people to act as adults, they inevitably do; when we expect children to act like children, they do.
My wife and I raised to boys. I remember when they were at that age of 16 or 17. At times we expected them probably not to behave very maturely and they never let us down. They never did. They always behaved immaturely. But at those times when we expected them to do what was expected of young men, when we asked them to act responsibly and behave responsibly, I can say they never ever let us down.
What do we say to young people today when we say, “Yes, you can get married and raise a family. You can drive a vehicle. You can drive trucks, muscle cars or whatever on our highways. You can join our armed forces and serve overseas. You can work in the workplace and be recognized to receive employment insurance”. In other words, all sorts of things trigger off at age 16. But there is one thing they cannot do in our country and that is they cannot vote. What kind of a signal does that send to young people? Obviously the signal it sends is we do not have faith in their wisdom to cast an intelligent ballot.
A person who is incarcerated in jail can vote. A person who is mentally challenged and over the age of 18 can vote. But young people who are interested in politics, who are well versed in government issues, who have watched the issues and are concerned about their country and are age 16 or 17, we say to them, “Sorry. You can participate in political parties. You can decide who the leader of your party should be. You can work in campaigns. But you cannot vote”.
There seems to be a real problem here. As we look over Bill C-68 and ask ourselves whether or not young people who are 16 or 17 years old should be considered adults when it comes to accepting responsibility for their misdeeds, we ought to also consider whether these young people age 16 and 17 should be participating in the electoral process to decide on what the future of their country should be.
I realize this is a bit of a stretch in the discussion in terms of Bill C-68 but there is some connection. We are talking about the role of 16 year olds and 17 year olds in terms of accepting responsibility.
My friend in the Reform Party made a very eloquent case. He said that in his judgment young people age 16 and 17 who are in the workplace, and in that case the workplace was the selling of cocaine, certainly know the implications of their behaviour, and so it is part of the critical discussion. Let us face it. I agree with most of the provisions of this legislation. It is a major step forward in dealing with young people in a thoughtful and professional way. It is a more appropriate way than we have seen in the past.
There is one major fault which I should speak about before I go on any further. This debate gets us around the real causes of youth crime. If there is a fundamental cause of youth crime, it is poverty and the fact that people are not able to get the things they think are appropriate. They cannot afford them.
If we talked to most people incarcerated in Canadian jails, who are youthful, not necessarily 16 or 17 years old, but youthful, and we trace back their origins as young people, I would be surprised if most did not come from a life of poverty, but not all. That does not mean that poverty results in crime. I just say there is a correlation that we ought not to ignore.
What are the fundamental causes of crime? What are the fundamental causes of young people misbehaving? That is what this legislation fails to address.
I must say I support most clauses. The bill opens up the discussion in terms of what is appropriate for young people age 16 and 17. If we are saying that people age 16 and 17 ought to be held responsible for their behaviour, surely in legislation coming next we should say that young people age 16 and 17 should have the opportunity to vote in future Canadian elections.