F. Summary of positions
Our primary recommendation is that:

• a major public education strategy must be designed and implemented on the reality of youth crime and corrections, especially compared to the United States, and
• continuing research into public attitudes be conducted.

The goals of the education strategy and public attitude research would be to ensure that:

• public attitudes are based on the true facts, and
• legislators do not misjudge the public demand for punishment.

Over the years the Society has developed positions relating to young offender policy and legislation. Our positions are more fully developed in the companion submission entitled Background Information, Analysis and Positions. Some of our key positions include:

1. The federal government should recognize and promote the crime prevention benefits of activities geared to ensuring the physical, mental, emotional well-being of all Canadian children and youth.
2. The federal government should work with the provinces to develop and implement national early childhood intervention programs targeted at economically and socially disadvantaged children.
3. Governments should promote and encourage restraint in the use of criminal justice.
   • Police should be trained in the use of non-criminal justice responses and to become more familiar with resources in their communities.
   • Guidelines for the use of police discretion should be developed and implemented.
   • Police and community organizations should be encouraged to work together to deal with children and youth for whom judicial processing is unnecessary or would be ineffective, even harmful.
   • National standards for Alternative Measures should be set to ensure that practices are consistent with the purposes of diversion from judicial proceedings and of restraint in the use of criminal justice measures. The programs should be carefully monitored and their impact on police diversion evaluated.
4. Criminal justice measures should not be used to ensure that young people have access to needed services.
   • The federal government should work with the provinces to ensure that child welfare, children's mental health and other community services aimed at improving the lives of children and youth are adequately funded.
   • The federal government should monitor the work at the provincial level with respect to child welfare and children's mental health services to those children under the age of criminal responsibility and, together with the provinces, improve the availability and accessibility of services to this age group.
5. The separate youth justice system in Canada should be maintained with: separate courts and judges with specialized knowledge and experience with youth, a system of sanctions that recognizes the reduced culpability and special needs and circumstances of youth, and programs and facilities that are completely separate from adults.
6. The youth justice system should be inclusive of all those persons defined as young persons regardless of the nature of the offence.
   • The present provision permitting transfers to adult court should be abolished.
7. The age provisions for the youth justice system should continue to reflect an understanding of the developmental process and the special protections generally afforded to youth in other areas in our society.
   • The age of criminal responsibility should be no lower than the present age of twelve.
   • The maximum age for the youth justice system should not be changed from eighteen years of age.
8. The Declaration of Principles should be retained and continue to define as key principles: the role of crime prevention, restraint in the use of criminal justice measures, the special needs and circumstances of youth, the reduced culpability of youth, preference for the use of community sanctions, restricting the use of custody to a measure of last resort, and protection of society best served by rehabilitation of the young offender.
9. Sentencing Guidelines should be developed to give substance to the Declaration of Principles and a Sentencing Commission should be established to develop and oversee sentencing guidelines for young offenders.
10. The legal and procedural safeguards should respect the special needs and circumstances of youth and our obligation to provide special protection to those young people in conflict with the law.
    • There should be no legislative action which erodes those provisions of the Young Offenders Act relating to legal and procedural safeguards.
    • The legislation should be amended to reflect the young person's right to refuse intrusive treatment.
11. The federal government should undertake a thorough review of the implementation of the Young Offenders Act by the provinces and identify "best practices" which support the Declaration of Principles. The results of the review should be used to develop national standards relating to administration of the Act.