Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to represent the good people of Dewdney—Alouette by entering into the debate on the topic of the youth criminal justice act, Bill C-3.
I would like to start my speech today by talking a bit about the philosophical perspective that underpins this piece of legislation and many, if not all, pieces of legislation the Liberal government brings forward in this place. We in the official opposition have a differing philosophy which is the reason we oppose much of what is in the legislation but not all of it. There are some steps in the right direction.
We must acknowledge that the Liberal government moves forward in some areas that are positive. There are some steps forward in the legislation but many that simply do not restore the balance of the justice system with regards to youth justice as could be provided through this piece of legislation.
We have waited for the legislation for a great deal of time. I believe my colleagues have been mentioning that length of time all day today as being around the 864 days the current justice minister has been justice minister and has talked about bringing in the legislation in a timely fashion. If this is what is called a timely fashion, I would hate to see what length of time it would take if the justice minister were taking her time on something. It is quite amazing it has taken this degree of time to get to this point.
I would like to go back to the underlying philosophical perspective that seems to be apparent in much of the discussion today. The government talks quite a bit about offenders, their background or what may have happened to them which may have caused them to enter into an offence. That is a consideration that needs to be taken into account. That is certainly something we would take into account as well.
The scale seems to be tipped over a bit too far in that direction. The current government is dealing with that rather than restoring the balance within the justice system, which is what we would seek to ask the government to address by putting forward some positive, proactive solutions that we think are missing from the legislation. I will touch on some of those points a bit later.
Apparently it has become important to the Liberal government to get its message out, the communication pieces out about what it is doing. The message may go out that the government is acting on youth justice and is firming up the law to make our streets safer. It seems to be most concerned about getting out that message rather than the actual tool of legislation which will make an impact at the street level on the great concerns of many Canadians in this area and many others.
The Liberal government's main concern seems to be its messaging. If it gets the right spin, if it gets the right story out to enough people, it can garner support by saying it has addressed the youth justice issue, for example. I encourage Canadians to look beneath the surface of not only this piece of legislation but every piece of legislation that comes before the House to see what is their effect and direct impact on people and on the system.
This piece of legislation fails to meet its goal in many different areas. That is too bad. The Reform Party will continue to put forward some positive proactive solutions which we hope the government picks up on. Failing that, we will certainly work hard in every way possible to form a government to put those solutions into place.
Personal responsibility, accountability and consequences are issues that should be at the foundational level of the legislation. If an individual participates in an action, he or she should be held accountable for it. The Liberal government seems to be too quick to excuse the behaviour of people based on their age, their background, their experience or something that has happened to them.
My party would advocate the idea of personal responsibility. Young people should be held accountable for their actions. Our position has been misrepresented by others in this place today. We are not advocating harsh treatment of young people. We are saying that it is harsh to ignore them, not to help them at a very young age, not to include young people in the youth justice system so they can get help and access to rehabilitative processes at a younger age.
My colleague from Kings—Hants mentioned earlier that if we wait too long there is a group of young people that can be exploited by the fact that older individuals can seek them out to participate in illegal activities without any fear of reprisal or fear of being held accountable for the action. That is simply wrong and needs to be addressed but is not addressed in the legislation.
It was mentioned in the House today that we are talking about a small number of young people that choose to participate in illegal activities. I agree that a small number of young people choose to participate in those kinds of activities, but they cause a great deal of damage and harm and are a concern to the public safety. Even though it is a small number, when stacked up against the number of offences that occur it is a concern which we need to address. The Liberal government has failed to clearly address it through the legislation. That is a shame. We will continue to give the government some suggestions and solutions.
I will talk about some things that are happening within my own community of Dewdney—Alouette. In the city of Maple Ridge there is an individual who is very concerned about the youth justice system. She is so concerned about it that many years ago she took the time to go down to the local courtroom and monitor some of the cases involving young people.
The minister responsible for amateur sport is very interested in this discussion and I appreciate his concern. I hope he is taking notes. I would be willing to send him a copy of my speech right after I have finished. I know he would be willing to look at it.
The individual in my riding is named Lola Chapman. She has dedicated a lot of her own time to set up a very innovative and successful court diversion program. It is based on the notion that young first time offenders have an opportunity to go through a diversion program rather than the regular court system.
I know diversion is mentioned in the bill. That is good. It is one tool that can be used to address some very serious concerns about young people. The court diversion program developed by Ms. Chapman has become very effective.
When individuals are referred to the program there is a quick turnaround between the time they commit the offence and the time they come before the youth justice committee. Sometimes it is within a week if not shorter than that. The longest period of time may be two or three months. Rather than having to wait for a court date a year or a year and a half away, this system works quickly and effectively. It has garnered a lot of praise within my own area and could certainly be used as a model throughout the country.
It is a good program because it deals with the issue of personal accountability. There are key individuals within the community who sit on this panel. They include the mayor of one of the cities, the inspector of the RCMP, a lawyer within the community, a school principal and a member of the ministry. It is a good representation of key influential people within the community. Young people have to come before the group and talk about what they did and then some suggestions are made.
I know my time is growing short and I will have an opportunity to speak again. Might I ask for unanimous consent to table this proactive positive solution which outlines the diversion program within my own riding of Dewdney—Alouette so all can see what great work is being done?
