Madam Speaker, I think you perhaps missed this subtlety of the French language. It means: where do they stand with respect to this bill and not whether they are in the House or not. I know; you did not need to remind me, but I hope that you will give me back the few moments you took away from me.
Where do these members stand? Why do they not rise to criticize this bill? The member for Brome—Missisquoi, a member from Quebec and the former president of the Quebec bar association, which is supposed to represent its members properly, where does he stand? “Elect me, I will defend you, the legal community, in Ottawa”. I heard him say that at a forum, perhaps he should be reminded of that.
I will close very succinctly, by listing the persons or groups who have spoken out in Quebec against this bill: the Commission des services juridiques, the Conseil permanent de la jeunesse, the École de criminologie of the University of Montreal represented by Jean Trépanier, Aide communautaire juridique de Montréal, the Fondation québécoise pour les jeunes contrevenants. The Institut Pinel, quoted by the parliamentary secretary in support of his bill, spoke out strongly against it.
The police chiefs' association, the Conférences des Régies régionales de la santé, the Association des centres jeunesse du Québec, the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, the Quebec Crown Prosecutors' Office, the Association des CLSC et CHLSD du Québec, l'École de psychoéducation de l'Université de Montréal, the Regroupement des organismes de justice alternative du Québec, the Ligue pour le bien-être de l'enfance du Canada, the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, the Association des avocats de la défense du Québec, the Société de criminologie du Québec, not to mention the Government of Quebec and all the judges who, through the messages they are sending, stress the merits of the current Young Offenders Act.
In conclusion, I move:
That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following:
“Bill C-3, An Act in respect of criminal justice for young persons and to amend and repeal other Acts, be not now read a second time but that the Order be discharged, the Bill withdrawn and the subject-matter thereof referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.”
The government must go back to the drawing board. It must do its homework and consult, among others, the Government of Quebec, which has been asking for weeks to meet with officials from the Department of Justice. The Minister of Justice must also realize that things are done differently in Quebec, and she must come to her senses.