Today’s testimony focused on part 4 of Bill C-10, which would amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Specifically, these amendments would allow a judge to lift the publication ban on cases involving defendants as young as 12 years old, introduce dissuasion and deterrence as principals of Canadian youth justice, and make it easier to incarcerate youth convicted of violent crimes.
The committee heard from a number of lawyers and children’s advocates, including Marvin Bernstein of UNICEF Canada, Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond, President, and Sylvie Godin, Vice-President of the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates, and Judge Barry Stuart, former Chief Justice of the Yukon.
These witnesses unanimously protested nearly all of the proposed amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act. They claimed that allowing judges to lift publication bans would have disastrous long-term consequences for young people.
They also argued that, in the case of young offenders, a violent crime can mean throwing a snowball, throwing water on someone, or threatening a classmate. Bernstein, Turpel-Lafond and Godin also told the committee that, in their opinion, the proposed amendments were in contravention with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Canada is a signatory.
Judge Barry Stuart, a pioneer in restorative justice, had particularly severe warnings for the committee, claiming that if they went down this road, and further criminalized young people, that they would never attain the goals of improving victims’ rights and engaging communities in offender rehabilitation. Rather, the “tail-end” of the criminal justice system would suck up all resources that could have far greater impact on justice and public safety if spent elsewhere.
Many Conservative senators repeated standard responses to the testimony of these witnesses. Rather than asking questions, their cross-examination seemed more an attempt to discredit their testimony. This behaviour has seemed most often on display when the committee is hearing from academic experts and legal professionals, whereas it changes to a more conciliatory tone in the presence of law enforcement officials.
In response to the very real problems outlined in regards to Bill C-10, Senator Wallace once again repeated his favourite line: “But when Ministers Toews and Nicholson appeared before this committee, they assured us that the bill will only target violent, repeat offenders, organized criminals, and child abusers.”
Senator Wallace seems to believe that simply repeating this mantra will make it true, despite the mountains of evidence given by representatives of children’s advocacy groups, the Canadian Bar Association, the Assembly of First Nations, as well as independent academics and many others. Unfortunately, the CDPC was not permitted to add its voice to this overwhelming chorus.
The comportment of these Conservative Senators—Boisvenu, Lang, Frum, Dagenais, and Wallace—seems to indicate that they don’t understand the fundamental purpose of their own position: to give a sober second thought to proposed legislation one step removed from the dictates of electoral politics. Indeed, during hearings today Senator Lang went so far as to claim that “one might argue the nuances or the details, but it’s the spirit of the law that matters.” Perhaps no one told Senator Lang that the nuances and the details of the law are precisely what a senate committee is meant to discuss.
Perhaps this disdain for evidence is what prompted Judge Barry Stuart’s remark that the Senate, “probably spends more time weighing evidence on which military aircraft to purchase than on weighing evidence on what is best for our youth.”
