In my view, the question whether a specific reference to street gangs should be added to the Criminal Code was answered last week in the context of Judge Bonin's decision in the Aurélius case, in which, for the first time, we saw that the present definition of a criminal organization could be applied to a street gang.
If he had decided that it did not apply, we might perhaps be asking ourselves the question, but I think we got a positive answer, to the effect that it's not necessary to amend the act to add the notion of street gang. In the office where I work, no one is demanding that this specific notion be added to the Criminal Code.
In my opinion, there's another reason not to include it. I observe that I've never really heard a very good definition of street gang. I've heard certain attempts to define a street gang, but every time I hear those definitions, they seem inadequate to me.
In his decision in the Aurélius case, Judge Bonin used the definition that had been submitted to him by the police. But you'll note that reference is made in that decision to adolescents or young persons. However, if you consider the individuals who were convicted by Judge Bonin, you can calculate that the average age is 34, and the average age of those who have been convicted for gangsterism is 31. Consequently, this shows, as one of the witnesses mentioned this morning, that we're seeing a second generation of street gangs. The members of the street gangs of the 1990s are getting older and are still involved in crime. So the definition that refers to young persons is no longer valid. These individuals are still engaged in criminal activities. So we shouldn't have a definition that's based on age.
All the other definitions that I've heard are essentially similar to the definition of a criminal organization in the Criminal Code. It should also be kept in mind that, in 2001, with the adoption of Bill C-24, the job was greatly facilitated by expanding the definition of criminal organization: it's now required that only three persons work together for the purpose of committing crimes involving money.