The news release headlined "Stronger Measures for Youth Enhance Public Safety" comes from a government that has closed adult jails and that has closed three youth detention centres. The new legislation introduced by Attorney General Geoff Plant will increase potential penalties for six specific provincial statutes. Plant's news release fails to provide any information on the number of youth charged with each of the six specific offences in recent years nor is any information given on the expected costs that will be generated through administration of the new law. That is strange for a bottom line government, but it is consistent with a government that refuses to release basic information to the public. Cynics might think that the new approach has everything to do with political posturing and nothing to do with youth justice.

The Vancouver Province's headline for its story on the new law said "We need to have penalties we can use … to push back". The quote was run next to Premier Campbell's picture. Readers might ask Campbell to comment on his personal experience with deterrents and "pushing back". Does Maui need tougher laws to deter criminals who drive while falling down drunk? In BC, the Campbell government appears to believe that increasing the penalty for youth aged 12-17 from 30 to 90 days of maximum jail time will "push back" and deter driving without a license - apparently none of them have teenagers. The number of court appearances by youth for driving without a license, and the number of increased sentences deserve careful monitoring.

The Attorney General's "2003-06 service plan" says "The number of new criminal cases involving youth between the ages of 12 and 17 has been declining in B.C. since 1992." In a footnote it adds "Police and Crime Summary Statistics, 1992 - 2001 reports that in 1992, 65 youths per 1,000 population were charged in B.C. under the Young Offenders Act. By 2001, this number had fallen to 32 youths per 1,000 population." Do not confuse the Young Offenders Act with the provincial Young Offenders (British Columbia) Act. The federal Act was replaced in 2002 by the federal Youth Criminal Justice Act. The BC Act is limited to provincial statute offences while the federal Act captures Criminal Code offences and establishes the Youth Justice Court which handles charges against youth. According to a 1998 publication from the former Ministry of the Attorney General (http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/police_services/publications/ythcrime.pdf) which included police services, in 1997 21% of charges against youth were for violent crimes and 59% were for property crimes. If those proportions apply in 2003, it means that not many youth are being charged for the six provincial offences where the government will "get tough".

Although the Attorney General introduced the new legislation, Gordon Hogg's Ministry of Children and Family Development is responsible for administering sections pertaining to youth justice services in the Correction Act and it provides services that are required for administration of the Young Offenders Act (Canada), and the Young Offenders (British Columbia) Act. The "service plan" for Hogg's Ministry says that it is responsible for "community youth justice and community supervision services by youth probation officers. Also provided are youth custody and services such as safe houses and outreach programs; community-based alternatives to youth custody such as residential or day programs, intensive supervision, alternative measures and community service work; and programs to assist at-risk and/or sexually-exploited youth." Those services have been cut as part of government's core review - that is the review that produced massive budget cuts that were announced on Black Thursday in January 2002 before Hogg developed rationalizations for making the scheduled cuts. When a plan to develop a children's mental health plan (that is to say their plan is nothing more than to develop a plan), Hogg claimed adequate funds would come from his existing budget. He made the same claims with respect to the new "get tough" legislation. Either he doesn't know what he is talking about, or he knows that the legislation is political posturing that will have little or no real effect. His Ministry is already in chaos as it makes a further $70 million in cuts over the next year.

It is difficult to reconcile objectives and strategies in Hogg's service plan with the new "get tough" legislation. His service plan says:

"Objective 2.5: To facilitate the community-based rehabilitation of youth in the justice system.

Strategies:

2.5.1 Provide treatment services, within available limited resources, to assist in the rehabilitation of youth within the justice system.
2.5.2 Provide essential community-based alternatives to custody in order to promote the rehabilitation of youth and minimize reliance on expensive custodial resources.
2.5.3 Maintain specialized treatment and community-based services.
2.5.4 Implement a program of family group conferencing."

To measure whether the government is achieving its objective, Hogg's plan examines the "Rate of youth in custody based on a proportion of all 12 - 17 year olds (per 10,000)". In fiscal 2000-01 the rate was 9.0. Government's goal is to maintain or lower the rate from 9.0 youth in custody per 10,000 youth. No wonder Hogg is quoted as saying that the new legislation is intended to provide a deterrent; any actual increase in youth in custody would be a violation of his published "service plan".