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Results: 1 - 15 of 1035
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Your testimony has really struck a chord with me. I think this case is simply horrific. I'm having a hard time understanding that the courts in your region acted as they did, and the cases weren't even appealed.
I would like to know where you're from, as you didn't say.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
So, they occurred in Ontario.
Mr. Rausch, if my understanding is correct, you were a judge for a fairly long time. Is that right?
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
So, you were not an expert on young offender cases; you were not a psychoeducator specializing in young offenders.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Let's get back to you two. First, I want to say that what you have told us, Ms. McCuaig, is a horrific tale. I hope that such cases are not an everyday occurrence in Ontario.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Yes. The government decided to name its bill after Sébastien Lacasse. However, young Sébastien Lacasse is dead; he was murdered. The young man who killed him had a knife, but he did not submit his victim to the torture young Leduc was submitted to; far from it. Even so, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. I know that there is a big difference in the way young offenders are treated in Quebec and the way they are treated in the rest of Canada. I don't know whether you're aware of this fact.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Quebec does have the lowest juvenile delinquency rate in Canada and invests heavily in young offender rehabilitation.
Mr. Rausch, I see you were looking for models in Texas. Are you familiar with the Quebec-specific approach to dealing with young offenders?
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
You are surely aware that those cases are much less serious than the ones we are discussing today. In extreme cases, young offenders are reprimanded very severely, as exemplified by the sentence handed out to the murderer of Sébastien Lacasse, whose name is used in this bill's title.
Ms. McCuaig, according to current legislation, and according to any legislation, the young people should have been dealt with well before committing murder. I don't see why we need to change the legislation to do that. Many people have told us that what this recent legislation—it's about 10 years old—is missing are not legislative provisions, but rather the resources that should have been part of the reform. In addition, the young people who committed the horrific crime you described, who torture their peers, should have been reprimanded much more severely than they were.
It seems to me that nothing in the current legislation was preventing the authorities from doing that, had they had the necessary means at their disposal.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
In any case, I note that in Quebec, when such cases are brought before the courts, someone keeps an eye on the young offenders involved. They are reprimanded, sent to the appropriate facility, but they are always monitored when they're out of the correctional system. This is not part of the legislation, but resources should be provided for such monitoring.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you very much for your reports, particularly since we have had the opportunity to read them since we received them on time. We did a lot of underlining.
I see that no one here comes from Quebec. The Canadian Bar Association represents all lawyers. I would like to know whether you are familiar with the specific method that Quebec has used to judge young offenders for a generation now.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
If I say the principle of the right measure for the right person at the right time, does that mean anything to you?
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
That's how the chief judge of Quebec's youth court summed up the intervention philosophy. I see that Mr. Bala is nodding his head. He's probably aware of it since he has written the most about young offenders.
I'm afraid of one thing. There was a concern about the changes that were made the last time. I believe that was in 2002. It was feared that Quebec would be unable to continue applying that philosophy because too many limits were being placed on judges' discretion. They were allowed to impose harsh measures for less serious offences when they were warranted by the young offender's personality and prospects. At times, they could also make more lenient decisions with regard to very serious crimes. The judges appreciated that discretion and were advised by psychologists attached to the court.
I'm sure that any amendments to this bill would be an opportunity for them to tell you whether the dangers they feared with regard to the act have materialized.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you for your answer.
You criticize, and rightly I believe, the change in the definition of "serious violent offence". As experts, you're providing a significant list of crimes that will now be considered violent crimes. Can you give us that list.
View Serge Ménard Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for the effort you made to send us the statistics in advance. However, you seem to be using the latest versions of software available on the market. Unfortunately, I noticed that I did not have them. I nevertheless managed to open the documents after a number of tries. However, you'll see that there are differences between my version and the one here.
You've presented us with a lot of statistics to enable us to judge what happens once young offenders are arrested. I would have liked to begin at the beginning and have the youth crime rate in Canada and for each province. I know that police officers across Canada have a form that, I believe, is entitled the uniform crime report in which all the information on a crime is reported in the same manner. That's the first thing I expected to see. Is youth crime increasing or declining? I believe the reports made by police officers when a crime is reported provide a specific, although not absolute, idea of the crime rate. We don't have that. Would it be possible to get it and for the information to be spread over a longer period?
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