Mr. Speaker, November 1 marks the start of the 1996 national community safety and crime prevention campaign. The theme of this year's campaign sponsored by the Canada Safety Council is "Choices", the choices that we as Canadians make to help prevent crime, especially youth crime.
To make a real dent in youth crime we have to do something about the means of its production. That involves the serious social problems which often underlie criminal behaviour and how society responds to them.
Everything we improve today, every community problem that we can address before it leads to crime will result in building healthier communities later on. Rehabilitation and alternatives to imprisonment are most important components of the solution. These will help young people to get their lives back on track and become productive citizens.
That is why crime prevention is so central to this government's program for balanced and effective criminal justice reform. To succeed in our efforts to prevent crime and find practical solutions, we must not only work in tandem with our partners in the criminal justice system but broaden our partnerships to include communities and neighbourhoods.
I applaud the efforts of the Canada Safety Council and invite all Canadians to learn more about the choices available for responding to youth crime within their own communities.