Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to speak about an issue that I’ve brought up before in this House, and that is of the many youth who find themselves getting into serious trouble with drugs, alcohol, and crime, often resulting in addictions and an interaction with our justice system, which results in untold heartbreak for their parents, grandparents, and the family members who love them.
In the May session I talked about how a blind eye is turned to illegal behaviour of youth. The example I used was of two 15-year-old girls who were caught drinking in downtown Yellowknife. The RCMP simply gave them a warning and dumped the alcohol out. They didn’t even phone their parents. The fact is, the message being sent is that if you’re under 18, you can get away with breaking the law, oftentimes repeatedly, and face little to no consequence for your actions.
As a territory we are dealing with the same Youth Criminal Justice Act that every other jurisdiction in this country deals with. Why then does it seem, not only to me but to many others in this community and around the territory, that we are coddling young offenders in our territory? Is there not some type of analysis or survey on young offenders and how they are sentenced across this country that we can see?
I’d like to know where the Northwest Territories sits when it comes to sentencing repeat young offenders in our territory. Slaps on the wrist are not a deterrent. It is in the best interest of public safety, the offender, the victim, and our justice system to curtail the deviant behaviour early on in the process.
There has been much talk about the federal government’s stance on getting tough on crime. Perhaps that may even mean the Youth Criminal Justice Act will be substantially amended or even replaced with a new act. I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice later on today if this subject has been brought up at the federal/provincial/territorial Justice Ministers table and what message exactly our government is delivering at that table.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
