Mr. Speaker, I hope you will bear with me. I am battling a bit of a cold today, but when I found out that I had the opportunity to speak to this bill I decided I had better shake it off because I consider this bill, and this debate, and the whole concept of issues surrounding youth justice, to be almost a defining issue for the country. How we deal with our young people in trouble, our youth at risk, really says a tremendous amount about the country as a society and our values.
It is quite interesting to hear members of the Reform Party speak to this issue. I think their views provide a total contrast to what most Canadians believe is necessary and will work in dealing with youth at risk or youth involved in crime.
The contrast is that if they rename or change the title of this bill, I think they would call it the youth revenge bill as opposed to the youth justice bill.
Everything we hear from that side of the House has to do with getting revenge. If we have a justice system for any age in this country that is based on revenge, I would suggest that the distance we have come as a caring society would change dramatically. We would go back 50 to 100 years to an era when that was all people thought about; if someone committed a crime there would be revenge.
What is absolutely astounding is that most members of that party come from a part of the country where people believe in the Bible.