Yes, and I think there are clearly offences for which adult sentences are appropriate, and homicide would obviously be one of them. The act does allow for that, and it requires the crown to make a very difficult decision about whether or not to seek an adult sentence. In some cases that will clearly be appropriate. We have had other cases in which it may not be.
Sometimes the homicide, for example, involves another family member, and the crown may look at all the circumstances of the events and conclude, taking account of the age of the young person and the relationship with the victim, that it's not appropriate to ask for an adult sentence, and also that the circumstance is a first-degree murder as opposed to a manslaughter situation. In that circumstance I think we have to respect the role of crowns to say they're not asking for an adult sentence, as opposed to requiring them to explain to the court why they are not doing that.
I don't think it is an appropriate role for the justice system to be holding crowns accountable in that particular way. I think it's certainly appropriate for the crowns to be discussing the matter with the police, and indeed with the victims. In some provinces, like Ontario, legislation requires that victims are to be consulted. They're not to make the decision. Victims should have an important role, should have more support, should have more respect, but largely that's not going to come from legislation. That comes from training, resources, providing victim support workers, and that kind of thing.
I think we all feel profound sadness in hearing what happened to Sebastien. He is not alone. There are many victims of youth crime, including youth homicide. The question is not whether there are victims but what we should do that's going to be effective to make that kind of offence less likely in the future. We all imagine how you and your family have suffered, and are suffering and will suffer, but we have to think about what will actually make society safer as opposed to what we think...oh, that sounds like a good idea. We can see that other jurisdictions have tried some of these initiatives. We can publicize the names of all young people--that sounds like a good idea; it sounds as if it would increase public protection. But we can look at the experience of other jurisdictions where they tried it. They said actually this doesn't make society safer. It actually makes society less safe.