Hmm–it looks like the article I read has been altered in the online version.
The online version says:
Having the dismissals come from ‘peers’ rather than ‘friends’, as in the print article, makes it less likely the dismissals are true, I think. The online version comes off as if it’s gossip going around her school, whereas the print version made it seem a couple of her friends had a good idea of what was going on.
I didn’t know that Alberta’s crime rates were higher than the Canadian mean (and that much higher for that matter). I can’t say for sure why that is, though the explanation favoured in that article (“we’re richer so we attract outside criminals looking for a quick buck”) doesn’t ring true at all to me. And it wouldn’t explain the petty vandalism you’re complaining of.
I’ll go further than that. I’s like to wring their little necks. If it was my daughter who posted such, I’d wring her neck too.
Franky, I’ve heard about gang banging since I was a teenager 45 years ago. The assumption among us teenagers always was that it was with consent. She wanted it. There was a rumour that one of my sister’s was gang banged . She is 10 years younger than me. I did approach her with the allegation and I was simply shut down without any further discussion. That was was 30 years ago and nothing since would suggest that she was some sort of nymphomaniac.
Whether the rumour is true or not, whether she was drunk or not, the fact remains that any boy who would participate in such an event is simply scum. If it was my son, I would take him behind the woodshed and make his ass bleed.
If he posted it on the internet, I’d wring his neck before I’d make him bleed.
God, I’m pissed off !
Communities with some sense of long term stability in their population are far more likely to provide deterence to crime. I would expect, and you can prove me wrong if you wish, that the smaller cities and towns of Quebec experience far less crime than Montreal.
Alberta attracts people from all over the country, either young people who see no oversight from known elders or kids who do not connect their parent’s values with the loosey goosey culture of a society in flux.
A bunch more reasons to hate Canada.
If a miscreant is over 14, the Crown can ask to have an “adult” sentence made, and the judge will decide whether or not to do so (YCJA s. 62(b) combined with s. 72(1)(b)). (There are also provisions for the most serious of crimes to presumptively attract an “adult” sentence.) So don’t worry about near-adults skating simply by virtue of their being a little under-age. It doesn’t work that way.
IMHO, the YCJA falls down in two places.
This is where one comes across young miscreants who know that if they stick to minor offences, they will only receive a slap on the wrist without significant jail time – essentially a badge of honour for them to brag about, rather than be required to participate in a custom tailored series of treatments, programs, and close supervision that might help them mend their ways.
On its face, this sounds good. For repeat youth miscreants, the Court sees the full record. For repeat adult miscreants, the Court sees the full record if the matter was a serious one and took place within a few years of the offence committed when the miscreant was a youth. Miscreants who actually grow up and become good citizens do not wear a scarlet letter earned when they were young and stupid.
On a deeper level, however, there are problems with preventing youth criminal records from being disclosed when criminal law comes in conflict with family law.
In family law, no one gives a crap about the adults. Everything comes down to what is in the best interest of the child. Sometimes it is in the best interest of the child to know the full criminal record of the adult, including the criminal record of that adult when that adult was a youth. One runs into the problem of the adult miscreant’s youth criminal record being protected from disclosure to the detriment of the best interests of a child who is still a child. I think that this part of the YCJA needs to be cleaned up.
Here is an example. A couple of welfare bums had a baby. The baby was taken in by the maternal grandparents and ignored by the bio-dad despite efforts by the grandparents and by social services to involve him. After five years, the bio-dad hooked up with another welfare bum who wanted children, so he sued for custody. When he was 14 he had been convicted for buggering a couple of children. When he sued for custody, he was in his early 20s. I submitted that bio-dad’s youth criminal record was relevant in deciding if he should have custody, and the Court agreed, however, given the timing of the events in this scenario, the YCJA prevented such disclosure.
Here is another example along the same lines. In Ontario (a province of Canada, and subject to the YCJA), all the parties seeking custody or access must disclose their criminal records to the Court (Family Law Rules r. 35.1 via associated Form 35.1). I have asked a couple of Family Court Judges how a person who’s YCJA record cannot be disclosed should answer the question: “I have been found guilty of the following criminal offence(s) for which I have not received a pardon,” and I have also asked how a youth should answer the question “I am now charged with the following criminal offence(s).” The local judges are kicking this around. The policy wonks that I spoke with in the Attorney General’s office down in Toronto are kicking it around. As it stands, I expect that because it is a conflict of law issue, the federal YCJA will trump the provincial Family Law Rules.
Similarly, there is a conflict between the YCJA and the FLR’s r. 35.1(3) when it comes to police record searches. If a person seeking custody or access is not a parent (for example, a grandparent or other relative, or a previous foster parent, or just plain old Jack the Diddler down the street), that applicant must have the police disclose to the court his or her criminal record. Again, there is a conflict between the YCJA and the FLR.
I truly hope that I am mistaken in my belief that the federal YCJA trumps the provincial FLR when it comes to youth criminal record disclosure, for if I am correct, then the system is protecting miscreants from having their youth criminal records disclosed at the expense of the best interests of children who may be subject to abuse by such persons.
The obvious solution is for the YCJA to be amended so that it does not put the interests of adults seeking custody or access ahead of children who’s custody or access is being decided potentially in favour of the applicant with the hidden youth criminal record.
A while back, I defended a young fellow who was up on sexual assault charges for raping an unconscious older woman at a party of youths. In my conversations with the Crown Prosecutor, I was told that in certain communities, such as impoverished aboriginal communities, this was a very common problem. In fact, it was such a common problem that it had developed a colloquial term: sleeping beauty rape.
Over the years, I have spoken to many people from such communities about the problem – ranging from discussions with elders to listening to women (very many women) who have been raped at parties while they were drunk. What it comes down to is that in some communities, it is simply the way things are. Youth (and adults) have a pattern of regular binge drinking at house parties, at which it is quite common to have sex. Unfortunately, when a group of very drunk people have sex, often not all of the people want to have sex, thus the problem of rape. (Why some women repeatedly attend such parties and repeatedly get raped while drunk is simply a result of the cultural tradition of binge drinking in some communities. When binge drinking is what one normally does with one’s peers in one’s community, to not binge drink is to isolate one’s self from one’s society.)
What is the solution? Stop the cultural tradition of binge drinking. How can that be done? Aside from trying to educate youth as to how to live as civilized human beings and treat all people, including women, with respect, the underlying problems of economic and social impoverishment must be met. That is not easy to do, and will take many years.
When a group of youths from non-impoverished communities act this way (e.g. group rapes at raves or frat parties), it makes the news, for it is not the usual course of events. What usually does not make the news is the staggering normalcy of sleeping beauty rapes in certain impoverished communities, such as impoverished aboriginal communities. The problem is very severe, and is tremendously harming a great many aboriginal women.
You’d anally rape your own son? I don’t know if that would help.
Good information, Muffin. The YCJA still doesn’t seem to address the victimization of adults by juveniles, but one step at a time, I guess.