Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure today to speak to something as important as Bill C-37, an act to amend the Young Offenders Act and Criminal Code.
This bill is in response to the increasing tide of violent crime. It especially is in response to the cries for justice from a public that is fed up with being terrorized by criminals, youth and adult alike, and seeing a judicial system inadequate to protect them and their property. It also responds to the cries from police who find the system which has been set out to deal with convicted criminals to be completely inadequate.
The frustration has been so extreme that some individuals in my riding who have been harassed by youth criminals have even suggested corporal punishment as a disincentive. Given some of the situations these people have been in, I cannot say I disagree with them.
I agree with this bill's initiative and will support it. However, I and my party believe the bill does not go far enough. In my speech I will deal with the principles of the bill and put forth some constructive criticisms and additions that I hope the minister will consider.
I agree with the increased penalties particularly for violent offences such as first degree and second degree murder and also the movement of 16 and 17 year olds to adult court at the discretion of the judges for violent offences.
I would agree with the principle of discouraging lengthening incarcerations in secure custody for non-violent offenders as I do not think it will serve the offender nor will it serve society well. However, we must also ask ourselves what this will be replaced with. Nowhere in this bill do I see this addressed.
One of the greatest problems in youth criminal behaviour is not only the violence but also the non-violent criminal acts which encompass a much larger number of criminal behaviour. Many youths who commit these acts for example, break and enter and auto theft, often repeat them many times over. They are convicted, penalized, incarcerated and released, only to repeat the sad cycle of breaking the law once again. The public and the police are understandably frustrated.
Justice must be served in a number of functions. The first one is the protection of society. The second one is the rehabilitation of the criminal. The third is the restitution to society and the victim. There should also be a disincentive to offend. The justice system has failed in many cases on all three fronts. All you need to do, as I said before, is to speak to those individuals who work in the system to know this is so.
We in the Reform Party have suggested that the convicted must pay back to the victim or society in some substantive fashion, for example by way of work or money. Also, to effect rehabilitation part of the penalty must be obligatory; the youth
must engage in school or a training program to provide him or her with the skills needed to be a productive member of society. This can similarly be applied to counselling and psychiatric services that the courts feel the offender must take. The offender must also be an active and willing participant in this, for not to do this would defeat the whole purpose of rehabilitation.
Relating to the rehabilitation of the young offender or lack thereof, many of these youths offend and reoffend. We must ask ourselves why this is so. Part of the reason is that tragically many of them themselves find that secure custody is a better environment than the one they come from.
This was graphically illustrated to me by a patient I saw not too many years ago. This young man of 15 stood in front of me prior to his release and pleaded with me to stay in the maximum security youth detention centre. He said: "Dr. Martin, if you let me go, I will go out and reoffend". That broke my heart. It was tragic. It brought to my mind that there was something desperately in need in our system if we had a young offender who had to say that. These young people need to be removed from the environment they find themselves and sent far away from the city to perhaps a setting in a rural area away from the drugs, the alcohol, the sexual abuse and the violence they are subjected to.
A change in environment is absolutely imperative for their rehabilitation. Also important is the length of time they are subjected to this change. They must be away from these destructive environments for a long period of time. I cannot emphasize that enough. It requires a long period of time to effect a change in behaviour and undo the damage of the many years of destructive influence they have been subjected to during their formative years. Repeat young offenders need stable, disciplined and constructive environments not for months but for a year or preferably longer.
Some may consider this suggestion harsh, but the idea is to get them into an secure and safe environment of normalcy where they can start to address the psychological and behavioural reasons they commit crimes. This cannot be done in the destructive environment in which many offenders find themselves, regardless how many dollars are spent on social workers and counselling. It will not work.
We will not change much by putting these individuals either into halfway houses or community rehabilitation centres for a few months, the reason being that they are in close proximity to the same environment they were in before. Therefore they are subjected to the same stresses that bred criminal behaviour in the first place that we see manifested in society.
Also the Reform Party has suggested that parents who wilfully abrogate responsibility for their children must also be held accountable. This could be in the form of fines imposed on parents.
Finally I address the penalty for violent crime. I agree with the lengthening of sentences. I suggest to the minister that another aspect is not addressed in the bill. Youth and adults who commit violent offences and are deemed to likely reoffend at the end of their sentences should continue to be held in custody until such time as they do not pose a threat to innocent people.
The rationale behind this idea comes from our belief that the rights and protection of victims in society are of the greatest importance with regard to justice. In the past I believe the rights of the victim have been violated and in our perception the rights of the convicted have been held at a higher level than those of the innocent.
The bill talks about the consideration of victim impact statements along those lines prior to sentencing. Rather than making them a consideration they should be made obligatory. It should be the right of the victim to give an impact statement at the time of sentencing.
I will address the prevention of crime. I do not have the answer but I would like to give a few insights having worked in the system both as a guard and as a physician. As we have all agreed the causes of crime are multifaceted. As I have said before many youths who commit crimes tragically come from horrendous family situations, often broken families, and are subject to the improper or inadequate parenting, sexual or physical abuse and alcohol and drug abuse often rampant in their history. Many children are born into these tragic situations and develop personality and psychological traits and behaviours that can lead to criminal behaviour.
The number of individuals subjected to such a tragic environment are increasing. Thus the number of people who suffer psychological dislocations as children that are manifested in criminal behaviour as adults will also increase. This will result in an increase in social costs in many areas, only one of which is criminal behaviour.
We should address the contributing factors that produce criminal behaviour. Children must be taught early at the beginning of their school years about appropriate behaviour, self-respect, respect for others, personal responsibility, what drugs, alcohol and sexual abuse are about, in addition to their a, b, c 's. It must happen at a very early age, at the age of five or six.
The parents could also be brought into the classroom so that they too could learn the value of important parenting and those lessons they may not have been subjected to as children. As
individuals we must learn these things if we are collectively to have a safe, responsible and law-abiding society.
If we are to address the antecedent issues to youth crime it will serve not only current youth offenders but will hopefully prevent those who normally take the path to criminal behaviour from doing so. It is an advantage to them and for the protection of society.