moved for leave to introduce Bill C-456, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (parental responsibility).
Mr. Speaker, this bill seeks to introduce parental responsibility as a key principle in our youth criminal justice system. In making parents responsible in part for the actions of their children, it reads:
Every parent or guardian of a person under the age of eighteen years who contributes, through negligence, inappropriate action or lack of appropriate action, to behaviour that leads the person to commit an offence is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
In other words, it brings the principle of vicarious sentencing into our justice system and ensures that parents will be liable to ensure that their children do not commit crimes that affect victims in the community.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)