Well, I hope that doesn't happen again, Mr. Chairman.

---Laughter

There was a little name plate down underneath the picture of me that said "Mike McLeod."

Mr. Chairman, our report kind of stands on its own on this bill. There isn't a point in me remaking all the points and re-discussing all the issues that we did when we made the report to the House. I think though that I would say that committee felt it was important to take this bill out for consultation despite the fact that this was bringing us in line with the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act and there was a requirement that the language be essentially the same, so there was little opportunity for us really to make significant change to this bill, but we still felt it was important for us to hear from constituents as to their thoughts on this bill and we also allowed a little latitude in allowing people to speak to the Youth Criminal Justice Act because it is hard I think in the minds of most people to separate the two bills and the different areas of influence.

We heard some very interesting things on the road, especially in Wha Ti. People there are very passionate about corrections and the effect it's having on communities, young people and families. It was very important for us to get that public input, I feel.

Certainly we've seen and we talked about this since April 1st of this year, the Youth Justice Act came into effect and there's been a change of philosophy that's been building over a number of years in the country and our philosophy and now our laws are reflecting the idea that we don't simply lock up young offenders and throw away the key and expect that that is going to rehabilitate people and change things. It can be controversial at times because you see extra judicial measures being used to see community sentencing options and some people who have been the victims of crime may have been less than enthused about an idea that young offenders are out in the community paying restitution instead of locked up doing hard time, Mr. Chairman.

I think that the legal community and the country at least is recognizing that incarcerating young offenders or making them come into contact with the legal justice system at such a young age does not necessarily turn people around. I suppose for certain individuals, some kinds can be scared back on the straight and narrow, but by and large that doesn't seem to be the case once youngsters come in contact with our legal system. They seem to be more likely to re-offend. We are looking for new answers and new solutions. I think this legislation does that.The territorial bill that we have in front of us really isn't talking about the kinds of crimes that typically have ended up with young people being incarcerated. We are talking about breaches of municipal and territorial statutes. There might be violations of the Liquor Act, for instance, or something like that, Mr. Chairman. It was important for us, obviously. We had little latitude in making sure that the language was consistent with the federal bill, but it was still a nice chance to hear from people about their thoughts and ideas about this very important area. Thank you.