Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was very pleased, Mr. Chairman, to hear from Mr. Kakfwi last night when he indicated that there certainly has to be an emphasis on the needs of young people. I don't need to go into all the reasons for that because they have been very well stated. It is largely to do with the speed of change and the speed with which things are happening around us that put young people at tremendous risk. All of us have had the pleasure of raising children and it is becoming more and more difficult every day. You can see the tremendous risks that young people are facing in a rapidly-changing society.
We only have to consider this city, which I remember as being a very quiet place where nothing much ever happened. Suddenly, it has become a city and, although it's not very big -- there are only about 16,000 people -- it has the same range of problems that you would find in Winnipeg, for example, which has over half a million people. There is every conceivable crime reported in the press in this city. The idea of people going around with guns and holding up convenience stores was unheard of. Even when I came to Yellowknife and it wasn't that long ago, in 1974, from the east, you never bothered to lock your doors. You just didn't worry about such things. You had safe neighbourhoods and all of that has changed. I am afraid that it has put tremendous pressure on the problems of law enforcement and making sure that the justice system works in a proper fashion.
I know that over the years we have had delegations of young people who complain that it is very difficult to lead the kind of life that their parents would like to see them lead in a place like Yellowknife simply because of the things they see going on around them. They have very few alternatives unless they are inventive enough to come up with some ideas of their own as to how they could be spending their time. As a result, people spend their time in arcades or hang around the bars because there are things that drag them away from the things that parents would prefer to see them do. I know that many of the people who visit on school trips from the south, young people from places not that different from Yellowknife in size in southern Canada, are absolutely astounded to see the way of life that some of our young people lead here. It seems to be like one long party for some people. I have heard that comment several times.
We have heard references to youth gangs that was unknown ten years ago, the idea of young people going around just simply looking for trouble, yet that is happening now. I note there an increasing number of young people who can no longer be handled by the school system so they are looking for alternative methods and schools. Parents have even given up completely and decide to have their children taught at home because that is the only way they can keep them at their studies. I could go on at length. I have raised a family of my own over the last 30 years in the Northwest Territories. I think that it is more luck than anything else when you see all the things that go on around you that they have been able to come through unscathed for the most part.
There is a particular problem for young boys, I find. Young women can exchange in interesting, adventurous activity without putting themselves in conflict with the law. But young men, for some reason, always seem to choose those things which involve risk which could put them in very real conflict with the law. This natural inclination of young boys to look for adventure, very often puts them in a position where they bring tremendous grief to their parents. Many of my personal friends have gone through this and it is so common now that it is part of the life we live everyday and we try to find ways of coping with it.
I have one question for the Minister. I am not so sure that setting up new structures all the time is always the answer. I know, until two or three years ago, we had a committee called the youth justice committee, in Yellowknife. To be honest, I was never quite sure exactly what the responsibilities or functions of a youth justice committee really was. I would like to get some indication from the Minister, some insight into the worth and value of such a committee. I know that when it existed, it was active and now that it is no longer there, people see that there is a void. There is something that used to exist that seemed to serve a very useful function. It would be useful for us to have a good understanding of what a youth justice committee does. Now that we don't have one in this city, with all the things that are going on around us many parents say there is a void and something needs to be done to resurrect it. That was my only question.