I'll speak briefly. It's nice to have principles in the act that may restrict the use of incarceration; the difficulty is we don't see them working particularly well.
Paragraph 718.2(e), which was in the Criminal Code and is now 39(2)(d) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, says that a judge should look for all alternatives to imprisonment for everyone, with particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal youth. But this has not significantly reduced aboriginal involvement in the youth justice system, and, as I mentioned, the proportion has gone up.
I'm not as optimistic about what may be seen as general terms like that in terms of helping reduce levels of incarceration. However, I am certain that if words like “deterrence” and “denunciation” are put in the act, those will definitely lead to more young people going to jail.