Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In response to my colleague's submissions regarding these amendments, I want to point out that, first of all, putting aside the question of whether or not a young person ought to go to jail, period—and I put that aside, because the sentencing provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act will still require that a youth justice court not impose a custodial sentence unless all other alternatives to custody have been considered—no one is going to go to jail unless all other alternatives have been considered.
The issue these amendments raise is whether or not this might be appropriate for a young person who has either caused bodily harm or has created a substantial likelihood of causing bodily harm and has done so negligently, maybe even persistently negligently or repeatedly negligently. Recklessness and intention, of course, are higher standards of culpability than negligence.
In my view, it is appropriate to allow a judge the discretion to consider a custodial sentence for negligent conduct when other alternatives have been considered and have been deemed by that judge to be inadequate. I know how much my colleagues opposite want to increase the discretion available to judges, so I would simply implore them to give the judge that discretion.
The reason I'm talking about sentencing is that it's really the main impact of this change. Violent offences are among those for which a judge is allowed to consider a custodial sentence.
Thank you.