Justice Committee on May 13th, 2010

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Have you checked?

[Michèle Goyette]

In Quebec, since 2003, so we are talking about the last seven years, we have recommended that 20 young persons be sentenced that way. There is nothing that says that those 20 young persons were under the age of 18 years. The only information I can give you is that they committed their offence before they were 18 years old, but they may have been over 18 years at the time when the recommendation was made.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Are you talking about a decision that a judge makes after the young person reaches the age of 18 years? They appeared, the trial dragged on, they turned 18 and a half, and you are saying that they were sentenced by the judge to adult prison?

[Michèle Goyette]

That is not entirely how it works. I can explain it for you. When a young person commits an offence, sometimes they are arrested some time after the offence, sometimes immediately after the offence. Crown counsel can ask that adult sentencing apply. The proceedings may last some time and that is what sometimes means that the judge makes their decision after the young person reaches the age of 18 years. That is why it is very rare for a person under the age of 18 years to be sentenced as an adult, in Quebec in any event. I can't speak for the rest of Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Fast]

Thank you.

We'll go to Mr. Rathgeber for five minutes.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks go to all the witnesses for your attendance and for your presentations.

I'm going to focus my questions on Ms. Gaudreault and Ms. Goyette. I understand that in Quebec you have a unique model that deals with young persons. In English it's called the “Quebec rehabilitative model”. And I certainly suspect that both of you agree wholeheartedly with that approach. Is that correct?

[Michèle Goyette]

That is entirely correct.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Thank you.

The stated purposes of Bill C-4 are that the protection of society is the principal goal, and the secondary goal is to make it easier to detain—

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

We are having problems with the translation.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Are we okay?

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

That's fine, it's like the Supreme Court.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

The primary stated purpose of Bill C-4 is the protection of society, and the secondary is to make it easier to detain violent and reckless youth. Is it safe for me to assume that you disagree with these philosophical objectives of Bill C-4?

[Michèle Goyette]

No, on the contrary, I think protecting society is a very laudable goal. It is better ensured by rehabilitation measures than by punitive measures, that's the difference.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

But if you heard me correctly, I said the “primary” goal is the protection of society. What I'm getting at... Under the Quebec rehabilitative model, it's the rehabilitation of the young person that you believe ought to be the primary objective. Is that fair?

[Michèle Goyette]

In fact, I think the primary goal of rehabilitating the offender is to protect society. We don't rehabilitate offenders for the joy of doing it, we rehabilitate them because we think crime is something we should combat. Crime jeopardizes protection of the public and that is why we work to get these young people back on the right track. We think it makes no sense for the public to feel threatened by young offenders. The public will be better served, in terms of safety, if we are able to get these young people away from crime. As well, we will make them productive and positive members of society.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Ms Gaudreault.

[Arlène Gaudreault]

What the victims we meet want is for the young offender to get help, for there to be programs and for the victim to get treated, that is often the verb the victims will use. I have accompanied many victims to parole hearings in the case of very violent offences. The victims wanted to be there, to attend the hearing, to see whether the offender had changed and whether they had been involved in programs. I think it's the same thing that they want for young people. When those offenders are released, the victims want assurances that there will be no reprisals against them or other victims. That is why reintegration and treatment programs are better guarantees.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Thank you.

Ms Goyette, I understand that collectively the youth centres of Quebec have 105,000 clients.

[Michèle Goyette]

No, we handle 15,000 young offenders.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Your letter applying to come here today says that the mission of these youth centres is providing psycho-social and rehabilitation services to 105,000 Quebec children, young people, and families. Is that incorrect?

[Michèle Goyette]

We also offer services for young people in need of protection and young people for whom adoption is being considered. So that makes more children. Young offenders account for 10% of the total number.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

My final question is, how are you funded? How are the youth centres funded in Quebec?

[Michèle Goyette]

We are funded entirely by the government of Quebec.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Is it per client?

[Michèle Goyette]

Obviously, a proportion of funding is based on our clientele, but it is not solely that. I can't explain exactly what total funding for youth centres is composed of. Obviously, each youth centre gets different funding, depending on the number of clients. But that is not the only thing counted, there are also other factors.