Madam Speaker, I want to say at the onset, as mentioned by my colleague, the member for Berthier—Montcalm, our party's justice critic, that even though the Bloc Quebecois is not in favour of the bill, we have the greatest of respect for what motivated its mover.
We understand that very private event in his life, which I am told was the reason he entered public life, led him to look at the role of parental responsibility within the context of delinquency, I would even say of the criminalization of young persons.
However we have to be very consistent with the approach and the values we have always adhered to in this regard and that are somehow part of the Quebec model.
There is a Quebec model in philanthropy, economic development and cultural affirmation. There is also one in the way we see equal opportunity. This vision of equal opportunity makes us realize that we are not all born equal, and I will get back to this later.
My colleague from Berthier—Montcalm established a somewhat mathematical link between the potential for crime in young persons and the environment they live in. As the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, I am keenly aware when I rise in this House with the ardour, enthusiasm and determination that are my trademark, that, unfortunately, without prevention some of my constituents may in the future join the ranks of these youths who may, at one time or another, turn to abuse and delinquency.
The Quebec model leads us to believe that there must be a difference. I wholeheartedly subscribe to what the member for Berthier—Montcalm said. There must be a difference between the way we administer justice for young offenders and for adults. This difference must be centered on the potential for rehabilitation we believe in.
As a member of parliament, I have often seen young people of 14 or 15, and sometimes as young as 13, who belonged to gangs. They were subject to what was not always a positive influence, even though there were very often parents in the picture, parents who did their best to be good role models for their children. This can happen at a time when young people are vulnerable also.
Why are we vulnerable at 13, 14 or 15? We were all that age once. For some of us, that was longer ago, but we were all 13, 14 or 15 at one time. That is a time when we rebel. There are some for whom that rebellion goes on for quite some time, but we were all members of gangs at one time. At that particular time in our lives, we try to distance ourselves from parental authority. We ask ourselves questions. It is a time of life when physical transformations occur and we do not always understand them. It is a time when we wonder whether we have a place in society. It is a time when we ask ourselves questions about the future.
If we do not find satisfactory answers, we may try various ways to attract people's attention and look for ways to challenge the social order. Some young people may choose delinquency.
In Quebec, we have always believed in rehabilitation. Incidentally, I must say that the Bloc Quebecois is extremely disappointed to see that the government decided to make the Young Offenders Act, which will become the youth criminal justice act, much harsher.
We do not understand. Still, we are well aware that the Minister of Justice, who is from Alberta, is moved by electoral motives. She must be more to the right than the Liberal Party's natural position. Why is such a thing happening in the year 2000? It is because there are clear indications—and political intuition never fails—that we are on the eve of an election. And on the eve of an election campaign, the whole issue of the reform of the Young Offenders Act is of particular importance in western Canada.
We all know that in Alberta and Saskatchewan and, to a lesser degree in British Columbia, there is the issue of radicalization. It involves discovering whether the Liberal Party or the Canadian Alliance Party will go farther in radicalizing justice and the treatment of young people.
I congratulate myself and the member for Berthier—Montcalm for not having lost sight of the values of justice and rehabilitation of young Quebecers.
Members will recall 1988, which was an important year in parliamentary annals. The year 1988-89 is important because, as the member for Québec and critic on poverty reminded us frequently, this parliament decided to eliminate poverty. A resolution was passed by all parties in the House. It was a time when politics lived without the Bloc Quebecois, with the litany of injustices against Quebec that that meant.
I want to remind members that in 1988-89 all political parties represented in the House passed a resolution to ask this government to reduce poverty substantially over 10 years. There was even talk of eliminating child poverty.
To add to this fight against poverty, the Progressive Conservative Party, whose political weight we are aware of at the moment—and I do not want to bring back bad memories for anyone—which was in government at the time passed the CAPC program, the community action program for children.
Why am I mentioning this program? Some may say that the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve is wandering off topic, which is not like him. One of the objectives of this program was to develop parenting skills. In my riding, there were several projects.
We do not always learn how to become parents. There are no courses on becoming parents. It sometimes happens in life that one is faced with a pregnancy and one sets out on this adventure that most of us find exciting, but one does not always have the parenting skills to cope with the various human development challenges that arise.
The community action program for children was designed to provide parents with tools for developing a meaningful relationship with their children and keeping them from turning to delinquency.
If Bill C-297 were passed, it would mean that we could find ourselves in a situation where this vital parent-child relationship could be destroyed. When I say this, I do not in any way wish to downplay the importance of parental responsibility. In the Quebec system, the civil law system, there is full provision for parental responsibility. There are even mechanisms for the loss of parental authority.
I will conclude by saying that we understand the hon. member's entirely legitimate motivations. We hope that he will decide, as the Bloc Quebecois has done, to invest in prevention and to believe that one cannot have the same justice system for both young people and adults.
It is with these considerations in mind that the Bloc Quebecois, with its usual sense of responsibility, has unfortunately concluded that it will be unable to support the bill before us.