Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. He has been very articulate and vigilant in speaking passionately about the young people in poverty in Canada and the fact that typically in the House we do not really deal with some of the deeper issues which deal with that reality, as opposed to the perception.
In fairness to the government, this legislation deals with justice. It is very limited in terms of the scope it can take to address some of those issues. We need to spend more time pursuing some of the social and economic policies that can help reduce the poverty and dependence that can lead to it.
It was interesting that he mentioned the issue of natives and the penal system in Canada. The situation exists as well in the U.S. where there is a disproportionate percentage of visible minorities in the penal system. Part of what happens in both countries is a systemic racism that reduces opportunities for minorities. Then there are opportunities through archaic drug laws that create a loophole for people to make money.
If we look at the history of organized crime, or go back to prohibition, typically those who participated in organized crime were of an ethnic background that denied them opportunities in the mainstream. They sought opportunities where they could find them. In some cases those opportunities came to them because the government had laws that did not make sense, whether it was prohibition or the drug law.
Many people feel our current laws on recreational drugs may be particularly tough and do not reduce the usage of those drugs among young people. Instead they increase the number of young people who ultimately end up running afoul of the law. They may be decent people who get caught doing something that is a crime of mischief more than a crime of misanthropy and ultimately are penalized as hardened criminals.
There are a lot of issues to be discussed and I appreciate the hon. member's question.