Thank you, Mr. Maloney.
I want to thank all my fellow members for being here to study Bill C‑231, known as the friends of David bill, which would replace an ineffective punitive approach with early intervention focused on the treatment and mental health of youth.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words of thanks.
We are here studying this bill today thanks to a number of people, namely my spouse, Caro, my daughters, Marie‑Soleil and Justine, and our daughter-in-law, Audrey.
When I started talking about the bill, a lot of people sent me messages and shared their stories in support of the bill. Even before that, when tragedy occurred in my son David's case, we received many messages of support from people who kept us going and encouraged us to turn what happened into something positive. I want to thank them.
One of the people who shared their experience with me was Angy Riendeau, who is here today. She told me she would be there if she could ever provide her support as a professional. I don't want to give her presentation for her, but I do want to sincerely thank her for being here.
I want to thank everyone at the House of Commons who worked on the bill. I'm not a lawyer, so legal terminology isn't my forte. I couldn't have done this without them. They knew when to rein me in, because when you're trying to change things, you want to go faster than you should sometimes. I might have put things in the bill that weren't compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, simply because I wanted to go faster and save as many young people as possible. Thanks to them and their good advice, however, we were able to achieve something I think has the potential to make a difference in the lives of many young people.
I also want to thank everyone in the government who worked on this bill. I want to thank Justice Minister Sean Fraser for supporting the bill, everyone in cabinet, and everyone at the justice department who helped draft the amendments before the committee. I have examined them, and they will help move the bill forward.
I want to thank my Conservative colleagues for their support every step along the way. Thank you to Larry Brock, our critic and shadow minister for justice, who has been beside me this whole time.
I also want to thank my Bloc Québécois, Liberal, NDP and Green Party colleagues for their unanimous support for the bill at second reading in the House. It was very emotional and moving to see the House of Commons stand united as one to help young people dealing with this type of situation. This is about David, but it's also about the friends of David. We'll have an opportunity to talk more about them shortly.
I'm going to be honest with you. I had a rather hard time preparing my remarks for today, which is why you don't have my statement in writing. When you pour your heart out once, as I did at second reading, it's hard to repeat yourself and say those same things again. Just about all of you were there. I'm probably going to say the same things I said then, but I want you to know how grateful I am to you for listening.
As I said in my speech and throughout my remarks, I am not the only one responsible for this. My spouse, Caro, my daughters, Marie‑Soleil and Justine, and I stood together in drafting this bill. I wanted them to be here today. They usually can't come to the House and be wherever, so I told them to come and share their story with my colleagues in the House of Commons.
Bill C‑231, the friends of David bill, is about helping young people, rather than punishing them. It is a bill I hope will bring all actors in the justice system to think about treatment options. Drug use is a symptom of something else. A friend might introduce someone to drugs for the first time. Someone might use drugs because of a mental health issue or a relationship problem. The causes are many. If we focus solely on the drug use, the inclination is to slap the person on the wrist, and tell them that they're not allowed to do what they're doing and that they have to get off drugs, period. The police have so much on their plate that even they will tell a drug user at some point that they'll let it go this time, but that the person has to get off drugs.
Perhaps things would have turned out differently for my son David had something been done when he was younger, had he been arrested or had it been possible to make him get treatment. I say “make him” because a 14-, 15- or 16-year-old doesn't want treatment or think they need it. They don't think they need help, because they can quit on their own. They think they'll be fine, so they tell their father not to worry. That's not true for everyone.
Treatment works for some people. I have friends who did drugs in high school who went on to become business leaders and high-ranking people, after managing to get completely off drugs themselves.
For some, however, that isn't possible. I am doing this for them. For the friends of David, as I call them, even though David doesn't know all the people we are going to help. It is for them that we chose to create this avenue and tell the justice system that we want it to look after these people as early as possible.
Instead of repeating more of the same, I just want to say something from the bottom of my heart. We can do things together, and we can do them well. All the parties came together to make this bill acceptable to everyone, with the same goal in mind. As I said, if we are able to save just one young person, that alone will be something, but my goal is to save more than one.
Thank you very much. I am happy to answer your questions.