Justice Committee on April 30th, 2009

[Dr. Matt Logan]

Sure. I'd like to say that the age of gang membership is 12 and 13, so I think a lot of the things that we have seen put in place over the last number of years have been too little too late. I'd like to see earlier intervention.

I listened to you talk about immigration. We have 50,000 to 60,000 children a year coming into Canada who are under the age of 15. In a six-year period in the 1990s, we had 75,000 refugee children. There have to be things in place for them as well, because they've come from places where they've seen a lot of things that our children may not have. They may be more susceptible because of a poverty level that is obvious, particularly given their refugee status coming to Canada.

Fishing upstream, starting early, and getting the multiple agencies together to work on some of the things that I talked about earlier, I think, are very important.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond, BC]

Have I used up my time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

You have half a minute. You can have a quick question.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond, BC]

I just want to thank you again for coming.

If you have identified anything specifically for Richmond and you're concerned about Richmond, let me know, because I'm meeting with the supervisor very soon. I've met with some of the officers already, but we have a new supervisor, so if there are any concerns related to other areas that you think I, as the member for Richmond, should know about, please let me know.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

Thank you.

Some of you provided us with written copies of your presentations. Those of you who read from them but didn't submit them, would you provide those to the clerk with any additional information you'd like to get to the committee? We'd like to have a full record of what we can base a report on, so could you do that for us?

You've given us a wealth of information. I have a list of 10, 15, or 20 items you raised: parole reform, disclosure, lawful access, evidentiary obstacles, CRA getting involved, mega-trials, dealing with precursor drugs, dedicated prosecutors. It just goes on and on, and we're going to review all of it as we go forward.

Just before I let you go, we had one witness in the previous session who raised the issue of prostitution. We've spent most of our time talking about drugs. She suggested decriminalization of prostitution and criminalization of the purchase of those services by johns. Do any of you have a comment on that?

Superintendent.

[C/Supt Fraser MacRae]

As a large urban centre, Surrey has its share of street-level prostitution, and in fact, I think we have identified 160 young women who are working in street-level prostitution in the city of Surrey, most of them in terrible circumstances and only there because of their substance abuse issues. But the criminality associated with the behaviour, both for the person who is part of the communication process....

It is absolutely essential, I think,for us to have a lever to try to transition these young women—and sometimes not-so-young women—into a better station in life, and that's how we approach it as police officers. It is a lever. It provides us with a certain authority under the Criminal Code that gives us an in with that young sex trade worker, so we can work with other community partners. In Surrey, for example, the Servants Anonymous Society, SAS, provides us with an opportunity to move those people into different circumstances.

And the more difficult you can make it for them to continue that type of lifestyle, I think the more motivation there is for them to move to a different place in life.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

Thank you so much.

The committee is adjourned.