Again, I'll start, and I'll talk about my experience, although I'm by no means the expert here. The two on my right are certainly more expert in terms of the actual characteristics.
But when you were describing the ethnic gangs, I did hear some similar words about things that I also see with the aboriginal community, and particularly, the need for a sense of belonging, not having good role models, and the relationship to poverty. I would also say that in jail I think gangs might flourish a bit more for the purpose of protection in jail and, you know, being together to address that.
You did ask about what we think might have caused what's going on. Again, I'll defer to Mr. Louis, but one of the things I've seen is that some of the young aboriginal guys have very much moved away from their roots, from their spirituality, and from their work with their elders. That has changed in their communities. I'm also seeing a bit of a migration. Instead of going to home communities, many of the young ones are coming to the cities, where they are feeling a little bit lost and where there are not the same supports, if you will, as there are in their home communities.
So what do we need to do? I think we need to stay the course. You may have heard that in Corrections we've done an awful lot of work in trying to assist people in regaining their spirituality and their culture. It's not always successful, but it has been one of the most successful things I've experienced in my time, and we have some wonderful programs in relation to that.
Most importantly, what I've seen in my 29 years of working in Corrections, although I hate to admit that, is that we've often tried to be everything to everybody, and we don't have that ability. We need to focus on what our colleagues in the aboriginal communities are telling us.
Also, we haven't talked much what is new and emerging, and in my district, that is the Asian gangs. We need to ask the people in those communities what they see as needs for their young people. I think you'll hear from both chiefs of police in my district later about some initiatives they've undertaken in that regard. Both Chief Boyd and Chief Hanson have really reached out in town hall meetings and have come to the communities where gangs issues are prevalent. They've had some great success with that. I think we need to continue to do that as well.