Mr. Speaker, let me say how pleased I am to have the opportunity to join in this debate on such an important issue as the well thought out and timely amendments to the Young Offenders Act that have been proposed by the Minister of Justice.
The issue of youth crime and youth in general has been a part of the Canadian political scene since the passage of the Juvenile Delinquency Act in 1908. It was completely overhauled in the mid-1980s and replaced by the current Young Offenders Act which has gone unamended since its initial passage.
The government made certain commitments and promises during the election campaign. It promised to move on this specific issue. As a matter of fact it was a promise instrumental in my election to Parliament. Once again we have delivered as we have on so many other issues. Even the media has praised us for our efforts and I admire them for doing so.
Let me quote an article by an Ottawa reporter. "The Tories talked tough on law and order, but the Liberals have acted" says Sean Dirkan of the Ottawa Sun . ``Jean Chrétien's red book brigade have introduced more tough law and order legislation in a little under nine months in office than the Tories did during nine years in power''.
He points to measures introduced by the Minister of Justice and by the Solicitor General, measures such as amendments to the Young Offenders Act, sentencing reform, a crackdown on child sex offenders and reform to the correctional and parole systems. It goes on and on.
This legislation does not stand alone, nor should it stand alone. It will no doubt have an important impact on various other portfolios. Not unlike a car engine, all cylinders must work together, one province co-operating with the other, all levels of government and political parties working together in harmony to achieve this very important goal.
The most important player is the family unit. That is where it all begins.
Several months ago my family had a frightening experience with a group of youths at the exhibition grounds in Toronto. Since that time I have urged the Minister of Justice to act swiftly to bring forward changes to the Young Offenders Act so that we can once again make our streets safe for ourselves and for our children.
Since my election to the House I have had the opportunity to speak with many of my constituents regarding this legislation. One common theme that has consistently been raised is that the crime situation has grown out of control in general and among youths in particular.
Although the crime rate has not increased according to Statistics Canada, it is the seriousness of youth crime which has been amplified both in the media and by the Reform Party specifically.
A recent article in the Globe and Mail stated:
No longer are students simply breaking windows and stealing from corner stores, rather they are breaking into cars and carrying weapons to school.
In the city of Scarborough, school board officials have recently noted that prior to the implementation of the board's zero tolerance policy they were finding 25 weapons a month, of which half were strictly possession for self-defence and the other 50 per cent were used to intimidate, scare and assault. I
find that very disturbing. Our children attend schools for educational and intellectual stimulation, not to intimidate or assault. They should be taking pens, pencils, books and calculators to classrooms, not guns and knives.
The government's real interest is in attacking the roots of youth crime, getting at the circumstances that breed crime, learning why youths have committed those crimes and ensuring that they do not happen again so as to stop the next generation of potential criminals. These circumstances include child poverty, youth unemployment, inadequate day care and insufficient counselling for high risk families and children before they fall into a criminal pattern. We must attack those roots and prevent criminal behaviour before it starts.
The 12th report of the standing committee on justice released in 1993 stated that we must attack the roots of crime, including unemployment, physical and sexual abuse and neglect, illiteracy, low self-esteem, substance abuse, glorification of violence in film, video and television, school failure, dysfunctional families and inequality.
This is not to say that we should ignore or simply pardon crimes committed by youth, who unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, have violated. Youth must be held accountable. They must learn to be accountable for their actions. If they violate societal rules they should be punished. They must learn at an early age to be respectful, responsible and accountable. It is at this stage that the family plays a vital role.
We must go beyond punishment. We must rehabilitate those who break the law and that is what this legislation also does. It provides for the punishment of violators while recognizing that the most successful treatment for young offenders is not only punishment, but rather to both punish and rehabilitate so that the offender will learn that it is wrong to commit a crime, know why it is wrong and will not reoffend.
The onus to reduce crime is not just on the government to bring in and amend legislation. The onus is also on the participants of society. The family is paramount in helping to alleviate the problem of youth crime. This is the first line of defence. It is here that youth receive their earliest level of socialization and they are taught right from wrong.
The onus also falls on our educational system and our educators. They must step forward and show leadership and compassionate guidance, become once again role models for their students and motivate and encourage them to become nothing but the best. But the school system must also have the opportunity to function in an environment that is free from fear.
The onus also falls on our police forces to properly carry out the law. If we are going to ask them to provide and improve their performance, to take a leading role in crime prevention without seriously jeopardizing their lives, we have an obligation to provide the proper resources so they may be able to serve and protect the public.
The onus also falls greatly on the CRTC in the type of programs that are easily and readily available which so much influence our youth of today. I have an article here from the Toronto Sun about Jamie Taylor and Mark Williams who became murderers at age 17.
It states here how Jamie Taylor grew up as an abused and neglected child. When he was three Jamie was rushed to hospital after his step father severely beat him with a curtain rod. Since the age of 12 he had no supervision. He did whatever he wanted. His mother often disappeared for a month at a time without checking in on him. Jamie grew up watching macho man destructo movies, playing war games, embracing the very tough image. That was his way of having a leading role.
We also know of a case in the U.K. in which a youth watching a video took an axe and seriously injured the child he was baby sitting. We can see here how constant bombardment of this nature not only can but does influence people's minds and behaviours.
When we do apprehend, convict and incarcerate these people, let us ask ourselves is the problem solved? I do not think so. This is what I mean. Mark Williams has had virtually no treatment in six years. He has seen his case worker four times, less than once a year. Mark also states how he has had to rehabilitate himself. Is the system helping in any way to prepare this person to re-enter society? I do not think so. I am very worried because his parole comes up in 1998.
I have stated in the past that I would make the parole request contingent upon successful completion of a rehabilitation program so that the risk of reoffending can be if not eliminated, greatly minimized.
It has been said many times by many people and deserves repeating once again that our youth are Canada's future. However, it has been said recently this is the first generation that will not have a higher standard of living than its parents. For me that is truly a tragedy.
Youth should be a time of bright optimism. Today our youth find themselves facing problems that are not of their own making. Unemployment for youth is at an all time high. We are in an economy grown weak by constant tinkering, a political situation that to many seems to defy solutions, an economy weakened by constant talk of separation which has brought nothing but instability. We hear of investors in companies hesitating to expand and invest because they do not know if Quebec will be in or out tomorrow.
It is no wonder that our youth live in a perpetual sense of pessimism. I think it is time to move away from political rhetoric to concentrate on economic renewal, development and job creation for our youth.
We must work together to turn this sense of hopelessness around. We must encourage our youth to stay in school, complete their studies and become valuable members of our community. We as a government have initiated programs to do just that. However, our government or any government cannot do it alone.
In partnership with the other players in society, the businesses, the educators, the community groups as well as members of the opposition parties, we must work together to achieve this goal of eliminating youth crime.
Some of the proposed amendments to the Young Offenders Act such as doubling the sentences for those convicted of first and second degree murder go a long way in doing so. Also, victim impact statements would be allowed where victims, should they wish, would now have the opportunity to make a statement about how a young offender's crime has affected them. I believe this will certainly go a long way in helping the courts to see the broader picture in imposing proper sentences.
With respect to medical and psychological assessments, we will with these amendments give the courts the authority to request assessments be done on chronic and serious young offenders without having to request consent from the offender.
Through these amendments we have also established an information sharing system which I believe is very important. Records and information would be shared and would also allow the release of information of young offenders to affected members of the public where there might be a risk to them in the entire community. This information would be shared among professionals, for example between the police, school officials, child welfare agencies, day care centres, et cetera.
Again, we can see here that this will help minimize the risk and we will add more protection for all. Most important, with these new amendments the young offender who was charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated and sexual assault will now automatically be transferred to adult court.
This is a very important step because the onus here will now be on the youth to prove that they should be tried in the youth court as opposed to adult court. We can see therefore that all these amendments go a long way in sending a strong message that crime at any level will and can no longer be tolerated.
In conclusion, we can clearly see that these changes, some of which I have mentioned, are a step in the right direct so as to help our youth get started in the right direction and send a strong message that violence will no longer be tolerated.