Tackling Youth Crime Through Deterrence and Responsibility

September 23, 2008

Strahl and Conservatives will Replace Young Offenders’ Law and Boost Prevention

CHILLIWACK - Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon Conservative Candidate Chuck Strahl said his party’s new Youth Crime commitment will build on Conservative Government’s efforts of the past two years.

“The people of Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon have told me – during this election and during the last 15 years as their Member of Parliament – that they want the federal government to tackle youth crime. They want offenders punished and they want the government to help those who are trying to veer away from a life of crime,” Chuck Strahl said today.

“The Conservative Party commitment unveiled Monday strikes the balance that people have told me they want. It replaces the old Young Offenders law with one that focuses on deterrence and responsibility. At the same time we are committing to extend the Youth Gang Prevention fund and increase its funding.”

A re-elected Conservative Government will extend the Youth Gang Prevention Fund, and increase its budget to $10 million per year. The Fund supports projects in communities at risk from gang activity, to help direct vulnerable youth toward jobs, education and positive social activities.

The new law on young offenders will state that a primary goal of the legislation is to protect society, and that a primary goal of sentencing is to discourage others from committing crimes. The new legislation will provide automatic, stiffer sentences for persons aged 14 years and older convicted of serious and violent crimes such as murder and manslaughter. Upon conviction, the names of persons 14 and older who commit such crimes will be made public. The law will also make it easier for prosecutors to apply for pre-trial detention of youth charged with violent crimes, in order to protect the public.

“Sadly for Canadian society, violent crime among youth continues to be a serious social problem. In 2006, violent crime committed by young offenders was up 30 per cent from 1991,” Stahl said. “A re-elected Conservative government will help put our country on the path to dealing with this sad and challenging situation.”

Backgrounder

Conservative Government Will Replace Young Offenders Law And Boost Prevention Programs

The Issue

While some crime rates have declined in recent years, violent crime among youth continues to be a serious social problem. In 2006, violent crime committed by young offenders was up 30 per cent from 1991. Almost 40,000 youth were accused of serious and violent crimes in 2006.

Almost 160 were accused of murder or attempted murder.
Almost 31,000 were accused of assault.
More than 2,100 were accused of sexual assault.
More than 4,500 were accused of robbery.[1]
The current law dealing with young offenders fails fundamentally at holding those who commit crimes accountable, and at deterring others from committing violent offences. Almost half of those accused of violent crimes in 2006 were not formally charged.[2]

The fact that these violent perpetrators are young does not mean they do not fully understand the consequences of their actions, and the harm they inflict on their victims and on society is nonetheless real. Young offenders must be held responsible for their behaviour, accountable to their victims and to the community, and rehabilitated before they fall permanently into a life of crime.

The Record

Our Conservative Government has put the protection and safety of our society first.

We passed the comprehensive Tackling Violent Crime Act, which increases protection for youth from sexual predators, gets serious with drug-impaired drivers, toughens sentencing and bail for serious drug offences, and increases protection from repeat dangerous offenders.
We created the Youth Gang Prevention Fund, to invest in community projects that help young people avoid a life of crime.
We passed legislation to increase penalties for street racing.
We passed legislation to end conditional sentences for serious personal injury offences.
We introduced a National Anti-Drug Strategy, which included funding for a National Youth Intervention Program, as well as new legislation that would provide mandatory jail time for serious drug crimes.
We appointed Canada’s first Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime to help ensure greater respect for the rights of victims.
In the last session of Parliament, the Government introduced Bill C-25, which implemented several key recommendations of the Nova Scotia commission of inquiry led by the Honourable D. Merlin Nunn.[3] The bill would have made it easier to impose pre-trial detention on those charged as young offenders if they were deemed a danger to the public or had previously violated release conditions. It would have also added deterring and denouncing unlawful conduct as principles of sentencing under the young offenders’ legislation.

Unfortunately, the Opposition refused to act on the bill, delaying its progress at committee. The Government has consulted further with provinces, territories and stakeholders to develop ideas to strengthen our young offenders legislation. Among the issues raised repeatedly are the provisions against naming young offenders, which allow youth to avoid public accountability for their crimes, no matter how reprehensible the offence or the level of responsibility of the youth involved.

The Plan

First, to help in rehabilitating vulnerable youth and to avoid being drawn into a life of crime, we will extend the Youth Gang Prevention Fund and increase its budget to $10 million per year.[4] The fund invests in projects in communities at risk of gang activity. These projects help direct vulnerable youth toward jobs, education, sports and other positive social activities.

Second, a re-elected Conservative Government will restore balance by introducing a new law dealing with young offenders.

The legislation will expressly state that the protection of society is a primary goal of Canada’s young offenders’ law, as recommended by the Nunn Commission.
It will expressly state that deterring and denouncing unlawful conduct is a primary goal of sentencing.
The law will define “violent offence" as an offence “involving conduct that endangers or is likely to endanger the life or safety of another person,” as recommended by the Nunn Commission.
The law will make it easier to detain, prior to trial, persons charged with violent offences or a “pattern of offences” for which an adult would be liable to imprisonment for more than two years if convicted. Again, this was recommended by the Nunn Commission.
The law will ensure that persons aged 14 and older who are convicted of violent crimes face enhanced youth sentences proportionate to the severity of the crime and the level of responsibility of the offender, with maximum enhanced youth sentences of up to 14 years for violent offences, and maximum enhanced youth sentences of life for first- or second-degree murder.
The law will ensure that persons aged 14 and older who are convicted of serious violent offences (first- or second-degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault, or other serious violent offences for which an adult would be liable to imprisonment for more than two years and in the commission of which the offender causes or attempts to cause serious bodily harm) are automatically subject to enhanced youth sentencing (see previous bullet). Further, upon conviction they will be named and a publication ban will not apply.
In addition, the law will allow prosecutors to apply to make public the names of young offenders convicted of other violent offences endangering other persons, or who have been convicted of a violent offence or of a pattern of offences for which an adult would be liable to imprisonment for more than two years.
The names of young persons who are witnesses or victims will still be protected and not subject to publication.

[1] http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/85-002-XIE/85-002-XIE2008003.pdf
[2] Those involved in violent crimes but not charged are considered to have been “cleared otherwise.” As Statistics Canada explains: “An incident is ‘cleared otherwise’ when police have identified at least one accused and there is sufficient evidence to lay a charge in connection with the incident, but the accused is processed by other means. In the case of youth, this could include formal measures such as a police caution or extrajudicial sanctions, or informal measures such as a police warning or diversion to a community program. Processing by other means could mean that the youth is involved in other incident(s) in which charges have been laid or it could refer to the committal to a mental hospital and death of accused.”
[3] Nova Scotia, Nunn Commission of Inquiry, Spiralling Out of Control: Lessons learned from a boy in trouble (December 2006).
[4] Our Government announced the creation of the Youth Gang Prevention Fund on January 11, 2007 to support anti-gang initiatives in communities where youth gangs are an existing or emerging threat. The funding specifically supports the development and implementation of local interventions aimed at youth who are in gangs or at risk of joining gangs. http://www.ps-sp.gc.ca/media/nr/2007/nr20070111-eng.aspx