Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the point the member made. However the point we are making, if one follows the points our justice critic has made on the bill over the past months, is that the bill is fine in a perfect world. However nothing in the bill guarantees funding to allow provinces to encourage the counselling and mentoring of youths through various agencies.
We truly believe that must be part of it. If one thing has hurt our youth justice system more than anything else, it is the lack of funding. If the corrective approach is prevention, counselling and identifying children at risk, the hon. member has made a good point. However we must have the resources to do that. Unless they are there it simply will not happen.
Not only are our police forces going flat out to do the best, but so are our counsellors. I was a teacher at one time. The school systems simply do not have the resources to help young children at risk. If they did, it could make all the difference in the world.
If the bill goes through, I hope the money would flow through the provinces to make sure the bill could be enacted or enforced and that we could prevent youth crime from occurring in the first place. If it did occur we would have the rehabilitation services to move those young people on to better things.