# YCJA changes good stuff



## GAP (21 Mar 2010)

YCJA changes good stuff
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Updated act would hold criminal youth accountable
By TOM BRODBECK, Winnipeg Sun Last Updated: March 20, 2010

I wouldn’t be so quick to write off the federal Tories’ proposed changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act as useless, like some critics have charged.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced a number of proposed changes to the beleaguered act earlier this month, including making it easier for courts to impose jail sentences on repeat offenders, where in the past they could not.

The proposed changes may not be the big YCJA re-write that many of us have called for, but there’s some good stuff in this bill if you believe repeat offenders under the age of 18 should be held accountable for their actions.

If you fall into the camp that believes it’s good policy to allow repeat auto thieves and other recidivist youth to serve “sentences” in the community, even when it puts the safety of the public at risk, you won’t like these changes.

These changes are designed to remove repeat young offenders from society primarily for public safety reasons but also to denounce and deter their crimes.

The bill addresses a number of problems with the YCJA, including how a “violent offence” is defined.

Under the current act, a young offender can only go to jail if they have committed a violent offence. But the courts have established a narrow definition of what constitutes a violent act that excludes offences like car chases, even though vehicle pursuits put the safety of the public at risk.

The bill proposes to expand the definition of violent crime to include offences that put public safety at risk and where there is a likelihood of injury. That will allow the courts to jail car thieves, for example, who take police on vehicle pursuits even when no injury occurs.

The bill would also put two very important sentencing principles into the act: deterrence and denunciation. Those sentencing principles are in the Criminal Code and apply to adults, but they cannot be considered by a judge under the current YCJA. Some judges have tried to apply those principles in youth cases but the Supreme Court of Canada ultimately ruled those principles are not in the act and therefore cannot be applied.

The government is proposing to change that by putting those principles into the legislation.

It adopted, it will make a difference in some cases whether a repeat, dangerous young offender goes to jail or not.

The bill would also change how courts can assess escalating patterns of criminal activity when sentencing.

Right now the courts can only consider past offences that resulted in convictions when assessing criminal patterns.

Under the proposed changes, courts would be able to consider past offences that may have resulted in “extrajudicial sanctions,” including cases that are diverted out of the court system.

If the bill passes in its current form — and that’s a big “if” given the degree to which justice bills have been sabotaged by the opposition in this minority government setting — it would help solve some of the problems we see in youth justice.

It’s certainly a step in the right direction.
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