Mr. Speaker, when we were interrupted by question period, if I can refer back to it, I was commenting about the fact that the amendment has as its source an amendment that came out of the Senate. We have already had discussions today about an elected Senate and the role it could play in the democratic process. Our party is clear on the subject. We do not support the existing Senate nor are we supporters of an elected Senate.
More pertinent to the debate today is that a body that is appointed, unelected and unrepresentative of the country is sending us back an amendment that we as a party support because of its content. It is relevant to the debate because it speaks to the holes in the legislation, not just in this section but in a number of areas.
The bill fails to address in a meaningful and systemic way the root causes of crime, things like poverty, poor health, and of course discrimination which the amendment attempts to specifically address in at least in one aspect.
In terms of the issue of special consideration for aboriginal youth confronted with charges in the youth justice system, which is clearly what the amendment does, it is important to put it in the context of the reality of the aboriginal community in Canada.
Last fall at one of our retreats I had the opportunity to have a briefing from a first nations community based near Regina, Saskatchewan. Coming out of the briefing one of the facts that stuck with me was that the reserve's population was composed of individuals of whom a full 50% were age 15 or younger.
We have heard from some hon. members today about the rate of crime attributed to the aboriginal community and the high rate of incarceration among both youth and adults of aboriginal descent. The proposed amendment would in effect allow our judiciary when dealing with sentencing to take into account the circumstances people from these communities may be confronted with. This is in keeping with the history of jurisprudence in Canada. We can point to all sorts of instances where we have done it. We have done it in other cases as well, recognizing that from time to time in the historical context it is necessary to differentiate between people who are before the courts.
The fact that we have a youth justice bill is proof of this. We have had it for close to a hundred years as has every developed country around the globe, certainly all countries based on the English common law and parliamentary systems. The acts that preceded it spoke to the fact that we treat people differently.
There is no magic to doing this. The important point is to ask whether, if we are faced with a special context, it makes sense to deal with the people in that context differently. The answer to me seems obvious: Yes, it does.
In terms of the root causes of crime, confronted as we have been with some of the history the aboriginal community has gone through, a good deal of which we are responsible for, the positive response of taking that into account is extremely important.
As a party we will support the amendment. We invite government members to search their consciences and do the same.