Mr. Speaker, the fact is that a relative handful of crimes each year for which there are convictions in youth courts involve serious crimes of violence or homicides. The vast majority of crime among young people is non-violent, either property related or crimes of theft.
The provisions to which the hon. member refers are intended to ensure that when young people make a mistake of that character, yes they are punished and yes they have learned a lesson, but they are not through the publication of their names in the media stigmatized for life, prevented from completing their education or from gaining employment. Surely that is in the public interest in this country.