Mr. Speaker, right off the bang, I am going to tell you that the Bloc Quebecois' position on Bill C-37 is that it is repressive and loses sight of the ultimate goal of all criminal laws: crime prevention and the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
The bill will in no way contribute to stopping young people from committing criminal acts. Ottawa is going down a dead-end street, as far as Quebec is concerned. Quebec is to assume responsibility for administering the system. Our recommendations have once again been overlooked. This is yet another good example of the struggle between the legitimate goals of Quebec and those of the rest of Canada. Once again, the bill demonstrates that the federal regime has failed.
As I already said in this House when speaking about the same issue last June, I am very concerned about the situation our young people find themselves in. I am sure that many of us are also concerned, but I am less sure of what we want to do to help them.
For over 34 years, I worked with young people as a teacher in a comprehensive school. I got to know many thousands of young people, and I can assure you that the image we tend to have of them is not always true to life.
Of course, there are a few who stick out from the others because of the way they dress, because their hair is the colour of the rainbow, or unfortunately because they commit reprehensible acts.
I think it is important to remember that the current Young Offenders Act has a very special philosophy. This policy is to help and supervise young offenders, unlike Bill C-37, which tells us that young offenders must be punished. This bill caters to the feelings aroused by extreme cases, while the notion of educating, helping and supervising young people is totally forgotten.
The policy statement behind this bill refers to rehabilitation and social reintegration, but what about prevention? Where, in this bill, is the word "prevention"? This is a repressive bill. One of the things that strike me the most is that 16 and 17-year olds who commit serious crimes will now have the burden of proof as to whether they will be tried in adult or youth court. This makes all the difference.
I really wonder why we should favour such an extreme solution and whether it is really necessary. Under the existing legislation, a young person charged with a serious crime may be tried in adult court. This provision is used by crown attorneys when a thorough review of the young person's record by several people shows that he must be tried in adult court.
Do we really need to amend the existing legislation, when it already allows us to transfer records from youth court to adult court? We cannot afford to move toward automatism. By virtue of his age alone, a young person may now face trial in adult court. This bill raises many questions, including the following: Is a 17-year-old first time offender who injures someone while committing a robbery more of a criminal than a 15-year-old who has committed close to 100 burglaries? It is a question.
Please, let us be a little realistic. Again, it is not a matter of age. It is a matter of prevention and education. I will tell you that in my riding, for example, in January, a young man was sentenced to imprisonment for incest. His own father had gone to jail before him for the same offence. As incredible as it may sound, for this young man, incest was a normal thing. Would you not say, Mr. Speaker, it is high time we take our responsibilities as adults and as a society?
Let us stop burying our heads in the sand and delude ourselves into believing that by offloading on the judiciary, we will resolve the youth crime issue. What I mean by taking our responsibilities is giving our young people reason to have faith in the future, because we know full well that the causes of youth crime are many.
The example I gave earlier is but one of many. Other factors are drugs, movies where violence is pervasive and so on. Again, let us take our responsibilities and unite against poverty and dropping-out. Yes, let us fight together against poverty and dropping-out. Furthermore, let us provide parents and, in their absence for whatever reason, the various officials involved with means to show young people that there is nothing wrong with being young.
When a young person has the misfortune of committing a crime, our reaction must certainly not be to throw him or her in jail, because we all know-and no one can deny it-that jail is a breeding ground for criminals. Moreover, it is clear that custody has no deterrent effect.
Our youth should have rights, including the right to be better provided, better provided with the services of experts and better provided with shelters if need be, but certainly not with adult jail as the only alternative.
The Young Offenders Act, as it stands, contains very strict guidelines relating to the maintenance of records on teenage offenders. Access to these records is restricted. However, in this
bill, the confidentiality aspect has been set aside completely. What is this supposed to achieve? I have no idea.
Bill C-37 proposes to disclose information on a young offender to representatives of the school system and other unspecified persons. I find this part of the bill very disturbing as well.
Last week, Newsweek reported that the U.S. justice system was using shame as a deterrent. Young people who had committed a crime had to ask their parents and their victims for forgiveness in front of the television cameras, to show they really felt remorse. Furthermore, the nature of the offences and identity of young offenders could also be disclosed in church.
Bill C-37 mentions revealing the identity of young offenders. It proposes to disclose information on young offenders to representatives of the school system and other persons concerned.
Again, who are these other persons? Are we going to follow the American model? Will announcements during high mass be next? This is absurd.
We can hardly expect a young person who has committed a crime to rehabilitate himself when he is acutely aware that so many people know his identity and what he did.
How will young people react when they see their privacy invaded and their record made public knowledge? We must stop punishing and looking down on people, and we must try to help our young people who, need I repeat, are the future of our society. Give them a job, because that is how they will regain their self-esteem.
On May 5, the Liberal Party of Quebec-yes, the Liberal Party of Quebec-and the Parti Quebecois agreed to move a motion in the Quebec National Assembly demanding that the federal legislation on young offenders comply with the laws and policies of Quebec with respect to youth protection.
This agreement was possible because Quebecers are aware of the need to protect the rights of the child.
In Quebec, the experience of the last fifteen years has shown that prevention, rehabilitation and readjustment are far more effective than repression.
We are trying to find out the causes of delinquency instead of using custody as the only deterrent. Of course, this will not solve all problems. There are a number of obstacles. The system is not perfect. Sometimes prevention and rehabilitation are not enough. On the whole, however, the approach taken by Quebec is more effective in protecting young people. How could a bill like the one before the House today ignore this fact? Should the minister not take advantage of Quebec's experience and show the rest of Canada that repression and intolerance will undoubtedly aggravate problems instead of solving them? I repeat: Young people are the future of our society. It is up to us to help them.
In concluding, you may recall that we as adults have certain responsibilities. One of our poets, Paul Piché, explains how we have an impact on the next generation. If I may, I would like to quote a passage from one of his songs: "Children are not really, really bad. They may misbehave, from time to time. They can spit, lie or steal, but after all, they can do everything they are taught".