Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, March 24, 1993, the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi stated, and I quote from page 3157 of the unedited Hansard, "The homework which should be done should be with Members who are sometimes using information which is not correct because it impacts on statements which are made, for instance, by members of the union. When there is no attempt to correct some of the misinformation, then it becomes a problem for good factual debate in this House." Mr. Speaker, the statement made by Mr. Kakfwi was in response to my questioning the Minister on legal implications flowing from the Department of Justice's decision to designate the River Ridge facility as a secure facility. Mr. Speaker, I take strong exception to the honourable Member's statement.
The Minister is aware that I have tabled several legal documents which deal with the proper and improper designation of young offenders' facilities. The Minister, himself, acknowledges the relevance by these decisions when he stated and I quote from page 3156 from unedited Hansard, "The court cases which the Member tabled are court cases which the Department of Justice is fully aware of. They were reviewed a few months ago when this plan was being considered on a tentative basis." Given that the Minister's staff have reviewed these cases, how can he suggest that Members are not doing their homework and that Members are presenting misinformation? Mr. Speaker, the case is tabled and the thrust of my questions to the Minister have focused on whether the designation is appropriate and in keeping with the law. It may well be that the designation is appropriate and legal if the Department of Justice takes certain steps to establish programs appropriate to young offenders in an open custody facility, or if the staff are trained to deal with open custody offenders or if certain structural modifications are made. Those are the issues.