Mr. Speaker, recently a constituent of mine, Mrs. Ferraro, lost her son in a tragic head-on collision. A young person has been charged.
In the hopes that no other family will have to suffer such a loss and experience her family's pain, Mrs. Ferraro circulated and collected the names of 7,785 Canadians requesting that Parliament take stronger actions against young offenders who commit a crime causing serious injury or death. These young offenders should be treated as adults and given stronger punishments.
I encourage all members of the House to work with the Minister of Justice and the members of the justice committee to see that changes to the Young Offenders Act are made. Being a young person is not and should not be an excuse for committing crimes causing serious injury or death.
It will be my honour to present this petition to the Minister of Justice on behalf of Mrs. Ferraro and her late son.