Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak in the House on the motion put forward by one of my colleagues in the Reform Party on this opposition day.
We have to admit that the current criminal justice system has some major failings, in terms of both its application and its principles. However, I should point out that the Bloc Quebecois vigorously distances itself—and I underscore the word vigorously—from the positions advocated by the Reform Party, which represent in our opinion a vision of things worthy of the best westerns.
The Reform Party places itself at the far right of the political checkerboard, whereas the Bloc is right in the centre, just because of the people it represents. This dichotomy in a matter so complex illustrates the state of Canadian federalism and the impossibility of its being properly reformed. Quebec's expectations are incompatible with the perceptions of the rest of Canada. This matter is simply one more example that two completely distinct societies are living within a single state and this arrangement does not work.
On the subject of the Young Offenders Act, we were right to criticize the initiative of the Minister of Justice, because she was giving in unduly to western pressure on the application of criminal justice to young people, something that is totally unacceptable and simply a way to make political points.
The minister's parliamentary secretary herself said on Le Point on CBC French television that the aim of the reform was to solicit public support rather than to expose the real problems and propose solutions. Need we add anything? I do not think so.
Toughening sentences for young offenders is not the best way to discourage criminals in waiting. There are other much more flexible methods that would ensure a better performance and therefore greater justice within our society. Branding a young person for the rest of his life will help neither him nor society.
According to those in the criminal justice system in Quebec, this message must be brought home. The Young Offenders Act raises problems in its application and not in its present form. If the Young Offenders Act were applied as it ought to be, according to the way it is written, everything would be fine. The proof of this is that the province which applies it best is Quebec, and Quebec is where there are the best results.
We are perpetually confronted by the incompatibility between Quebec and the rest of Canada, the west in particular. We are caught in a vicious circle and, with her fake reform, the minister is endangering the very foundations of the justice system and the efforts expended against youth crime, particularly in Quebec where, as I have said, it is working fine, though not perfectly. Before changing the act, however, I believe that, as the former Minister of Justice said himself, it must be applied as it was intended to be applied, and the other provinces would be well advised to follow the example of Quebec.
Concerning the conditional sentencing of young offenders, the parole system is based on the principle of rehabilitating offenders. This is a principle that is dear to the hearts of the large majority of Quebeckers, and of Canadians I believe.
Commission has followed on commission, report after report, and consultations of all kinds were held on the early parole procedure.
What we can conclude, without fear of being wrong, is that there is a problem with the system itself, not the principle underlying it. There are numerous examples of offenders being released for good conduct after serving one-sixth of their sentence. Several examples could be given, but it would waste the time of colleagues in the House.
Authorities are applying the principle of good institutional conduct, which, by definition, should guarantee the same conduct outside the establishment. This is the crux of the problem. The same conclusions are based on two completely different realities.
We in the Bloc Quebecois have drafted a bill along these lines that will be introduced shortly, so that offenders are not released after serving one-sixth of their sentence. I urge all colleagues in the House to support us in this undertaking.
As for victims' rights, beyond all the considerations we accord the criminal justice system, it must be remembered that those most affected by this issue are still the victims. Before all else, we must think of these people, the innocent victims.
There is a necessary balance to be achieved between the treatment reserved for offenders on the one hand and victims' rights on the other, and finally the general public. If the balance between these three categories is destroyed, nobody wins, not the victims, not the offenders, who also have rights, not society.
Without saying that we support the Reform Party on the issue of victims' rights, we cannot deny that the government's initiative of passing legislation on this thorny issue must be examined more closely.