Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the story on page 3 of the Yellowknifer today about the teenage girls who were violently attacked by other youth. Mr. Speaker, I do this because I am concerned that the readers may mistakenly draw two conclusions from reading it. One is that if you mind your own business and do the right thing,
this could never happen to you. Two is that this is not a serious situation of youth violence that needs a real focus and action.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that I know the victim and her family very well. I have a first hand account of what happened. The victim was, in fact, minding her own business doing all of the right things. She was not alone. She was with her two close friends in broad daylight after school. They came out of Breakaway after exercising and decided to go to Reddi Mart to get a drink. They were followed by a group of three other girls. The victim was pulled out of the group by these girls and attacked. She managed to get away from them and ran into the store to escape them and seek protection, at which time the three girls followed her into the store where they continued to beat on this girl. It was also reported that the girls who attacked the victim smelled of alcohol. As the owner of the store said, if the people didn't stop them, they would have been even more seriously injured.
We should be very alarmed, Mr. Speaker, that such a brazen act of violence can be perpetrated by our youth against other youth. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, these girls who did this were completely unknown to the victim and the fact is they are still swarming the mall. They are familiar to the security and the merchants at the mall. In fact, they were heard telling others about how they beat up this girl, and they continued to cause trouble without any repercussions, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I don't believe these girls are an organized gang, but there are serious youth crimes being perpetrated by youth against other youth. This needs to be taken very seriously. The worst thing to do is to blame the victim as though she caused this to happen, or to underplay the seriousness of this situation. Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the RCMP is doing the investigation. I do hope that the charges will be laid and the girls who did this will receive necessary consequences and some help in order that they are not left to keep on doing this to other victims.