Mr. Speaker, the debate we are having today is rather incredible.
To quote Albert Jacquard “If a city needs a prison, it means something is wrong in this city”. Listening to my colleagues opposite, but mostly elsewhere on this side, I have the feeling prison is the solution for young offenders.
I was offended a little while ago when my Bloc Quebecois colleague, who is a separatist, gave some credible statistics, but was told he was not making any sense because he is a separatist. If I were an Australian, I would still be interested in taking part in this debate because I believe that young offenders must be dealt with the same way wherever you live. We all share the same goal, making sure we deal with them in the best way possible.
Statistics show, and I believe we get good results, that prevention is by far better than incarceration and heavier sentencing. Sometimes I have the feeling that putting young people behind bars, telling them they are no good and always punishing them makes things worse. The results are there to prove it; they are most disappointing.
Why are young offenders sent to prison? Because they have trouble living in society. In prison, they will be thrown in with other people who, for the most part, had trouble living in society. So I often think that prisons can sometimes be schools for delinquency.
Instead of punishing them even more, let us do the exact opposite of what is proposed in this bill and try to make them understand what they did wrong and rehabilitate them, so that, once their sentence is served, they can be reintegrated into the community. This is what a prison system should do.
I am very disappointed today. A young person who commits a crime probably comes from a tough neighbourhood, from a poor family or maybe a broken family. Do members really think that, before committing a crime, such a person would stop and think, along these lines “I have to be careful, because under Bill C-3 I will be given a longer sentence”? Do members think that will stop such a person? Let us get serious here. This measure will not solve crime.
I want to put a question to my Reform colleague. Does he really believe that a young person would stop and think about the consequences before committing a crime. Usually, 14 year olds do not watch the news, they would not know about the new legislation and they do not even have the right to vote. Does the hon. member believe that such a young person would stop and think about what could happen to him?