Mr. Speaker, I listened to the presentation of my hon. colleague with a great deal of interest as he discussed Bill C-37.
One of the points that we should recall in that bill quite obviously is the fact that 16 and 17 year olds are moved over to adult court and there is only one way as I understand that piece of legislation for them to even be considered in youth court. They must prove for some reason beyond a doubt and must have
that evidence agreed to by the judge that they would be considered for youth court.
That would happen in very limited situations with extenuating circumstances. As we know also basically this new legislation would double sentences.
Further, I would like to touch on a presentation that I recently had the opportunity to attend by Dr. Fraser Mustard. The presentation indicated the research that he had done over many years. While many in this House would recognize that a few short years ago when we looked at early intervention with children we thought of kindergarten age. Today according to Dr. Mustard we are looking at a much young age. We are looking at an age as low as six months for proper nutrition, for nurturing and for assistance.
My question for my hon. colleague would be formed in this fashion. Does he not believe that community assistance and community help in addition to those changes in Bill C-37 to make penalties stiffer is certainly something that we all have to work for in order to prevent those crimes from happening and the necessity to punish our youth in the future?