Thank you for that.
I have questions for Chief Alexis and Wenda, but first to you, Chief.
Section 13 of the Criminal Code, which I brought up before, seems to be prevalent. As as a former RCMP officer, you would recognize this. I'm retired from the force as well. It says:
No person shall be convicted of an offence in respect of an act or omission on his part while that person was under the age of twelve years.
You would know, in your previous career, that from time to time you would be dealing with children under the age of 12 who would be recognized as having challenges and were aiming towards the court system. As a police officer, your only recourse, especially for a person under the age of 12, is to turn them over to social services or to their parents—one of those two. As a police officer, there are no charges involved. You can certainly talk to them, you can certainly try to give them some guidance, but at the end of the day you need to turn them over.
Professor Pei, you can enter into this as well.
Where do you see us trying to recognize and deal with the problems before they get to the court system? We're hearing about them once they get to the court system, but these kids are born with FASD. Yes, they mature at different rates, and yes, they identify differently, but what do you think we can do best for those who start coming into contact with the police prior to age 12?
I'll start with you, Chief.