Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the House regarding Bill C-3, the youth criminal justice act.
I find myself at somewhat of a loss this afternoon due to two events that have just recently occurred in Toronto. The first case is the senseless beating death of 15 year old Dmitri Baranovski. His assailants are still at large. His parents are facing their worst nightmare. They had to bury their own child.
At the memorial to celebrate his life, Rabbi Zaltzman encouraged everyone there to chase away the darkness of the violence of Dmitri's death. He urged government to strengthen laws against violence.
In the second case, police in Toronto found a 14 year old girl bruised and bleeding with cigarette burns down her back after enduring two hours of torture from four older teenage girls. As the press reported this morning, she said “All this needs to stop. If it was my world—I know that sounds childish—but seriously, if it was my world, nothing like this would go on”.
I do not think that sounds childish at all. I would like the House to be able to tell her that we will make it stop, that nothing like what happened to her will happen to another.
The impact of cases like these means that we, as elected members, must examine the difficult issues surrounding our youth and use our elected office as instruments to chase away the darkness of violence.
Canadians expect communities, where they live, work and raise their families, to be safe, secure and healthy. They reflect who we are. They also make us who we are. We want all Canadians, especially our youth, to participate fully in our society.
We are committed to working with partners to reform the youth justice system and so the bill focuses on prevention, meaningful consequences, rehabilitation and reintegration.
My constituents in Oak Ridges have been quite clear. They are very concerned about youth who violently break the law or repeatedly break the law. At the same time, they want a system that promotes accountability, respect, responsibility and fairness.
We all know that there is a consequence for every action that we take, and my constituents want that to be made very clear to young people before they think abut breaking a law. That means that we have to talk about prevention, about addressing the root causes of crime and encouraging community efforts to reduce crime. Let us reduce crime by eliminating it before it even begins.
As a former educator, I found that if I had to deal with a disciplinary situation with one of my students, the best approach was one of respect and dignity. Yes, that is a far distance from violent crime, but the principle of respect remains the same.
Our young people must know and understand that there are consequences to a crime they might commit and that they will be held accountable. A key principle of the bill is on sentencing. The sentence that a youth receives should be proportional to the seriousness of the offence.
For example, provisions in the new legislation will allow an adult sentence for a youth 14 years old or more who is convicted of an offence punishable by more than two years in jail.
It will also establish a more efficient process that gives the courts the power to impose adult sentences on conviction when certain criteria are met. This would result in a system that respects the due process rights of the accused, places less of a burden on victims and families and would give any court hearing a case involving a youth the tools it needs to deal appropriately with the case.
It will expand the offences for which a youth who is convicted of an offence is expected to be given an adult sentence to include a pattern of convictions for serious, violent offences.
It will extend the group of offenders who are presumed to receive an adult sentence to include 14 and 15 year olds. It will permit victim impact statements to be introduced in youth court.
I believe these provisions speak to what Rabbi Zaltzman said about strengthening laws against violence.
When youth commit crimes, it is important that there are programs and treatment available to prevent them from reoffending. Bill C-3 also includes these elements of rehabilitation and reintegration.
It is important to remember that, yes, young people must be held accountable for their crimes, but they are also more likely than adult offenders to be rehabilitated and become law-abiding citizens.
The bill would require all periods of custody to be followed by an intensive period of supervision in the community that is equal to half the period of custody. This would allow authorities to closely monitor the young person and ensure that he or she receives the help necessary to return safely and successfully to their community.
It would also require conditions to be imposed on periods of supervision. This could be targeted to the youth's particular circumstances, such as attending school, finding employment or obeying a curfew. It could also include abstaining from alcohol or drugs, attending treatment or counselling and not associating with gang members.
These are the types of measures that my constituents have told me that they want.
We will work with our partners: the provinces, municipal governments, law enforcement agencies, the courts, social service officials, educators, parents and so many others.
This is a reasonable and considered approach. It includes alternatives to the justice system for non-violent offences and has built-in flexibility that the provinces have said that they want.
I urge members of the House to use their elected offices wisely and to support the motion of the Minister of Justice, the member for Edmonton West, that the bill be read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. By doing so, they will be acting as instruments of light against the sorts of youth violence that I mentioned earlier, and they will be making it clear to 14 year old teenagers that we want to make sure nothing like this will go on again. If we do that I believe we will have advanced the cause.