Mr. Speaker, for over 10 years Reform members have been calling for reforms to the youth criminal justice system. It has taken at least four years, more like six years, for the Liberals to reach the point where we are at today.
In terms of changing our youth criminal justice system, it has been 864 days since the current justice minister was appointed to her cabinet position. Ever since, she has been saying that she would change the Young Offenders Act in a timely fashion. I do not know what is timely about 864 days. We know that 35 violent crimes are committed each day in Canada and 864 days is a long time for my constituents and all Canadians.
How many violent crimes committed by youth could have been prevented in the last three years if the government had provided youth crime legislation sooner rather than later? The Liberals spent millions of dollars, had months of hearings and promised for years that it was coming.
Extensive committee hearings were held on the bill last spring, yet the government allowed the changes to our youth criminal justice system to die before third reading in the last session of parliament. That is an indication of how unimportant this bill is to the Liberals.
Now we have Bill C-3, the government's proposed changes to the Young Offenders Act, that will create a new youth criminal justice system. Now we are back in the House debating at second reading stage of the bill. It has a new number but it is the same old bill.
The parents and families of the victims of youth crime become victims too. I have two young sons, Mr. Speaker. You met with my younger son when he was here. When I put myself in the shoes of the hon. member for Surrey North whose family has gone through a tragedy, and when I put myself in the shoes of the parents and families of victims, I feel like going home every weekend. I worry because the government is not doing enough. I can hardly imagine what it must be like when a young person is a victim of a violent crime.
The reforms to the Young Offenders Act called for by the public and advocated by Reform have been numerous in detail but the most substantive reforms can be grouped under eight categories which I will discuss. There is clarification of the purpose of the act; strengthening parental responsibility; recognition of victims rights; the provision of support services for victims; stronger differentiation between violent repeat offenders and non-violent first time offenders; strengthening sentencing provisions; publication of the names of young offenders; changes to the age of application in the Young Offenders Act; and provisions for rehabilitation and prevention.
To be fair, there are some positive changes offered in the proposals before us but there are areas in which we feel the government has been inadequate or misguided. We must continue to urge constructive alternatives and amendments to the act.
The first category is clarification of the purpose of the act. The old juvenile delinquents act made it clear that its primary purpose was the welfare of society, whereas the Young Offenders Act introduced by the Trudeau government focused more on the welfare of the young offender.
One of the commendable features of the bill is clause 3.1. It states that the principal goal of the youth criminal justice system is to protect the public, a protection to be pursued through the prevention of youth crime through the punishment of convicted offenders and through efforts to rehabilitate. That is progress.
The official opposition has been carrying the flashlight for the Liberals who have been walking in that direction. I am happy that at least they got that right. However, the bill does not go as far as Reformers would like. The Liberals have not seen the full light of day yet.
With respect to reforming parental responsibility, the bill contains at least two steps in the right direction. It requires compulsory attendance of a parent at court if it is considered by the judge to be in the best interest of the young person. It increases the penalty for a parent who signs a court undertaking to supervise a young person upon release and who wilfully fails to fulfil that obligation.
The third category is the recognition of victims rights. Victims of youth crime are frustrated by the government's lack of concern for them. The bill before us contains several provisions that represent a step in the right direction. For example, clause 52 has the provision to order a surcharge to be levied on any fine payable by a young person. I assume these funds are to be used to provide assistance to victims of offences.
Clause 113 permits a youth justice court, a review board or any court to keep a record of proceedings of young persons.
Clause 118 permits victims access to the clause 113 records.
Clause 39 states that the pre-sentence report is to include the results of an interview with the victim.
These measures fall far short of the demands of the official opposition, supported by this House, for a full-blown victims bill of rights. My colleague, the member of parliament for Langley—Abbotsford has already spoken on this. I commend him for being the champion on the victims bill of rights. On the other hand, the minister and her government still assign a low priority to victims rights in relation to the rights granted to persons accused or convicted of crimes.
The fourth, fifth and sixth areas of concern to the public and on which we consider the provisions of this bill to be inadequate, are the provisions pertaining to the differentiation of violent offenders from non-violent offenders, the sentencing of young offenders and publishing or prohibiting the publication of the names of the young offenders.
It is the position of the official opposition that a disproportionate number of non-violent offenders are locked up. This limits the space and resources needed for violent offenders. It increases rather than reduces the probability that these young people will be drawn into a life of crime rather than being protected and liberated from criminal influences.
We have consequently advocated a stronger differentiation both in law and in treatment between violent and non-violent young offenders and between first time and repeat offenders. We advocate a stronger differentiation than what is in the bill we are debating today.
On tougher sentencing, I believe strongly that our punishment to criminals is just a slap on the wrist. Appropriate punishment creates fear. That fear acts as a deterrent to any violent crime. On the other hand, if there is no fear and no punishment, that acts as a motivation to commit a crime. At this time when there is not adequate punishment, that acts as a motivation for young people to commit crime.
In conclusion, the bill contains a few steps in the right direction, but falls far short of what we wanted to see in the bill. We want a victims bill of rights. The Liberals do not want that. With respect to the bill's provisions for differentiating between violent and non-violent offenders, its provisions for the sentencing of young offenders and its provisions for publishing the names of young offenders, we find there are major deficiencies. With respect to changing the age of application of the Young Offenders Act, we think the government's approach is wrong.
Finally, the government has not gone far enough with measures concerning the treatment of young offenders, namely, the importance of prevention and the crucial role of the family with respect to youth crime prevention.