Madam Speaker: The hour being 5 p.m., and time for private members' hour.
Mrs. Shirley Render (St. Vital): Madam Speaker, I think most of us remember that right after the budget speech the Premier (Mr. Filmon) put the resolution from the all-party task force on unity on the Order Paper. Most of us had a chance to discuss it at that point, and as we know, it was passed unanimously here in the Legislature, so I do not know that we should be debating this resolution again. I would suggest that I would like to withdraw the resolution. Thank you.
Madam Speaker: Is it the will the House to have the honourable member for St. Vital (Mrs. Render) withdraw her private member's resolution? [agreed]
"WHEREAS since 1990, violent crime in Manitoba has increased more than three times as much as the Canadian average; and
"WHEREAS crime can only be effectively dealt with through both prevention and suppression; and
"WHEREAS the tough talk of the Provincial Government has not been matched with action; and
"WHEREAS Manitobans want a positive, comprehensive response to crime and gang crime that provides alternatives for youth; and
"WHEREAS a July 1996 editorial entitled, 'The Real Solution' stated, "Help could come with improved recreation, training and employment programs and from improved support for families in trouble. Young people with no marketable skills, no job and no prospects are apt candidates for gang activity."; and
"WHEREAS in his 1996 Report on the Headingley Riot, Justice Ted Hughes, Q.C. said, 'The difficult part of this process will be to move the governments at the federal/provincial/territorial table in the direction of "The Real Solution". What must be appreciated is the serious consequences that will occur if that movement does not commence, for failure to respond will threaten the continuance of control of our streets by lawful authorities.'; and
"WHEREAS the New Democratic Party has put forward an eighteen point plan to deal with gang crime; and
"WHEREAS this Gang Action Plan is divided into elements focused on both the justice system and families as well as schools and communities; and
"WHEREAS this fully costed plan has been the subject of widespread consultation and has been praised as a detailed plan to fight youth crime that is well thought through and constructive.
"THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba urge the Provincial Government to consider developing policies which offer hope and opportunity to provide positive alternatives to youth, as well as swift meaningful and firm consequences to members of criminal gangs; and
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Assembly urge the Provincial Government to consider using the New Democratic Party 'Gang Action Plan' as a basis for provincial policy on organized criminal gangs."
Motion presented.
Mr. Mackintosh: Madam Speaker, it was not any more distant than this morning that I heard some of the fallout from this horrid threat of street gangs in the city of Winnipeg. I heard about a situation where families in the inner city are now placing themselves in their homes away from their windows. They have reorganized their living spaces so the chairs are up against walls that have no windows or in corners.
I heard of situations where families have moved out of, not just the inner city, but moved out of Winnipeg, in hopes of avoiding continued involvement or new involvement of their children in street gangs and, as well, to avoid the dangerous threat that comes with both involvement in street gangs and living in the community where street gangs are apparently thriving.
Children and youth in Manitoba are staying home from school; they are staying home from their community centres. People of all ages are avoiding going out as they once did and, indeed, are even changing their behaviour in their own homes by installing alarms, by even putting bats next to their doors.
It is not just people in the city of Winnipeg that are threatened by this rise of street gang activity. This problem, like a cancer, has grown out far beyond the boundaries of Winnipeg. People from communities all across this province and, indeed, a couple of weeks ago in northwestern Ontario, there too, are reporting on street gang activity caused by gangs that once thrived only within the city of Winnipeg.
We are concerned, and rightly so, Madam Speaker, that the fallout of this threat that I describe through several examples is being increasingly felt throughout this province and even beyond. We do not need statistics, but they are valuable because they do justify the increasing fear that we have of violent crime in this province.
In 1992, there began a marked change in the violent crime rate in Canada, and the marked change was the astronomical increase in violent crime in the province of Manitoba. Indeed, by 1993, Manitoba had the highest violent crime rate of all the provinces in Canada, an unfortunate position which continued in the years following, up to the last year for which statistics are available and that is 1996.
Within those years, Manitoba not only had the worst violent crime rate of all the provinces, but it had the highest violent crime rate ever recorded, to our knowledge, in Canadian history. That is "Friendly Manitoba," Madam Speaker. The friendly Manitoba that Manitobans increasingly fear is slipping away from them. Now, this problem of street gangs and violent crime has taken place under the current government. Is that coincidence, or is there a cause and effect?
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It is strange when you consider that this is the government that ran in no small way on a law-and-order, get-tough-on-crime campaign in the last provincial election. And I suppose they felt that, having been partly responsible for creating or worsening the violent crime rate, they should use that to their benefit or perhaps try and put together policies that would effectively make us safer. But what has occurred? We have not seen a significant decrease in street gang activity. In fact, the number of known street gang members, known to the City of Winnipeg Police Service, has increased from about 400 to over 1,400 today, and that is in the course of about four years. The most recent indication I had from the Winnipeg Police Service Street Gang Unit was that, although about 200 street gang members were taken off of their list of those identified because they were inactive for a period of a couple years, as I recall, there had been a net increase nonetheless. They believe that the number of street gang members in Winnipeg was still well over 1,400 and growing.
With this reality in Manitoba, this new reality, we now look at the government and its election promises, what it has done both before and after the election, and what we see is a government that continues to ignore the problem, that does not so much as mention street gangs in its throne speeches. It does not so much as mention street gangs in its budget addresses, and yet this issue is on the minds of Manitobans. It is on the minds of Manitobans to the extent that it will be raised as either their first concern or certainly in their top three concerns. While families are moving, while families are living in fear, this government continues to ignore the realities. What that tells me is that they are not prepared, then, to provide a comprehensive response to street gangs. The first step in responding in a comprehensive way is to recognize the problem. I cannot understand what public relations plan this denial of street gangs comes from, or, is it indeed stemming from the fact that members opposite just do not understand, do not care?
I wondered, Madam Speaker, if they did not want to mention street gangs in their throne speeches and budget speeches, because they were fearful that it may impact negatively on the investment climate. I know and Manitobans know how important that is to members opposite. But when we see time after time, in the national media, reports on street gangs and violent crime in Manitoba, when we see reports on how Manitoba is the violent crime capital of Canada or the murder capital of Canada, even on their own analysis of what might be important to investors, why are they not recognizing and comprehensively dealing with this threat?
We have seen over the last number of months alone the continued pattern of a government that is either turning a blind eye or failing to put in place an aggressive policy to counter this threat. We see certainly a willingness on the part of the government to point the finger at other parties, particularly a willingness to point the finger at the federal government.
I think, for example, of the situation where a person by the name of Fabian Torres was charged as a result of a home invasion in the town of Ste. Anne. It then came to light that Mr. Torres was in fact serving a conditional sentence in the community for involvement in the death of Beeper Spence. What did the government do, both as I recall, at the ministerial level and at senior officials' level? They pointed the finger at the federal government saying what a horrid amendment to the Criminal Code; what horrible shortcomings with these conditional sentences.
Now, we join with the government in concern about that legislation, but what moral authority did the government have to point the finger elsewhere when, meanwhile, that conditional sentence posed by Mr. Justice Schwartz did not receive an expedited fast-tracked appeal? I ask, Madam Speaker, if indeed this government believed that particular individual--and it is just one example--was a threat to the community, was it not incumbent on this government to ensure that the appeal was heard as expeditiously as possible? What we did discover was that even the transcript in that case was not obtained for four and a half months following the sentence, when we were told by officials in the department that it could have been obtained within seven days. That transcript is important because it triggers the timing of the rest of the appeal and its eventual hearing.
We saw in the papers today another example of this government's shortcomings when it comes to prosecuting gang crimes in a serious way. Gang crimes are serious, and it requires a serious response. Following the tragedy, the death of Jeff Giles, we asked this government to investigate why it was that the police had come to the conclusion that one of the accused there had to be released on bail pending weapons charges when well on probation. We asked given that this appears to be a textbook case of when someone would be denied bail: why were the police under this apprehension that this individual had to be released?
What did the minister do? Did he cause an investigation? No, Madam Speaker, he did not. Indeed, what he did do was say--well, someone can ask the city of Winnipeg police. That is not the sense of responsibility Manitobans expect of the chief law enforcement officer and the person responsible for the administration of the Criminal Code in the province of Manitoba.
This is not a time for finger pointing, Madam Speaker. It is a time for each of us looking to see what each of us can do to better ensure the safety of Manitobans and to deal with street gangs. We are putting forth positive ideas while pointing out the shortcomings but, for every shortcoming that we point out, we bring along a positive suggestion for public debate.
One of those suggestions was put in the form of our 18-point Gang Action Plan, which we began producing following the tragic death of Eric Vargas in the city of Winnipeg. This 18-point plan is not everything to everyone, but it provides a good first start and it provides fertile ground for discussion and debate.
The plan has been discussed throughout the communities of Winnipeg in particular and elsewhere in Manitoba to very positive response, and we now ask of the government, for the sake of all Manitobans, for the sake of our safety, both real and perceived, please begin to get serious about street gangs, please look at our Gang Action Plan as a basis for action that is comprehensive, that is not simply within the justice system but also brings into the solution families, communities and schools.
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Hon. Vic Toews (Minister of Justice and Attorney General): I certainly look forward to this opportunity of putting some comments on the record. Without getting into some of the, I guess, verbiage that the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh) has put into his resolution, because it does really nothing to promote dialogue and promote solutions in this area, I want to say from the onset that this government takes ideas from any source, if those ideas are effective ideas.
That is the way that I have looked at the issue since I have been Minister of Justice, and I know my predecessors looked at it in the same way. So I am not tied to any particular philosophy, I am not tied to any particular action plan but, indeed, I think we need to look at all sources in terms of trying to find problems for what is not simply a Manitoba problem, but a national problem.
I know my colleague makes much of statistics and I have seen what he has done with statistics before; he continually twists them to serve his own ends. I am not going to get into the issue of statistics. I believe that the programs that we have implemented are effective programs.
Just in respect of the sources of ideas, I know that my colleague the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux), who is a Liberal member or an independent Liberal member or an independent, in any event, has approached me on a number of occasions to talk about issues in his community, ways that my department and our government can enhance the living of people in his community, whether that is from a safety issue or a crime prevention point of view, and, you know, I have had many good meetings with that member. In fact, it was he who came to me with the idea of the under 12 and using the youth justice committees for children under 12 on a voluntary basis. Indeed, it was that member who first of all brought home to me the importance of the youth justice committee system in Manitoba. Indeed, even though he is an opposition member, he took the time to invite me to a meeting of the youth justice committee that he is a member of, and he introduced me to the people there and talked about the issue.
It was as a result of what I saw the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) doing in his community with his citizens there that I was prompted to recommend to our government the issue of funding for these youth justice committees. So our government provided funding in the amount of $41,000; again, very, very positive input by the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski). Again, he showed me an idea that we could enhance, that we could work together on, and not just benefit a government constituency, if I could use that term, but indeed enhance the well-being of all the people of the city of Winnipeg, indeed the province of Manitoba.
In that same vein, that same spirit, the member for The Maples came to me and talked about the under-12 issue. Again, I was open to the idea. The idea made sense. I asked him to go and speak to my assistant deputy minister. The assistant deputy minister and the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) went down to meet with Chief Cassels to get the police on board to work in a partnership, not just corrections, not just the political, but indeed the police.
As a result of that, we are developing a protocol to fill what I consider a very serious gap in our federal law, our Young Offenders Act, which does not allow any action to be taken against youth under age 12. I know the newspaper reported this as the Tories getting tough on crime. I found that a rather puzzling headline because when you read the story, the story was right. The story was essentially offering parents an alternative and a resource by which they could bring their children to a community committee to help them with their particular problems. Again, I want to indicate it was an opposition member who came to us and brought us that idea and worked together with us.
I know the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski), again another former member of the Liberal caucus, again he has come to me with a number of ideas, and they have all been ideas that I have asked my staff to consider. The member for The Maples, he is a police officer. He understands what is going on in the streets, and the member for The Maples, he does not need to resort to statistics and twist statistics. He simply says this is the problem; how do we resolve it? Just a few minutes ago, he brought another idea to my attention, but, again, it is indicative of an attitude of an MLA who wants to work with government to enhance the lives of his constituents. That kind of positive interaction I think does well, not just for the citizens of our community but for the art of politics, as well, and the art of government, because we need to work together.
You know, there are others, I know, in the opposition who have good ideas and somehow feel reluctant to come and share those ideas with me, to come and talk with me in a positive, constructive way about how we work together with our citizens. I want to say--and this is somewhat ironic, that the Justice critic for the NDP party, the one who has the greatest interest, I would think, of all opposition members to in fact enhance safety, to enhance the living from a police point of view, never comes to me with those kinds of issues, never comes to me to say this is a good idea; why do we not work with that?
But he is not that kind of person. He takes statistics, he twists them, and then when that does not work, he criticizes the Crown attorneys, so that the Crown attorneys have to stand up and, in a public news release, have to say to the people of Manitoba: We are public servants, but we do not need to take that kind of an abuse from the member for St. John (Mr. Mackintosh). To talk about a Crown attorney fumbling the ball, for him to convict those Crown attorneys without any hearing but just for crass political purposes, to twist them, to try and ruin their careers, I mean, I think that that kind of thing is despicable. Then he stands up in the House, and he says, why, the Crowns are not critical of me. I know they come to me and say I made good comments. But you know the only one he can get blowing his horn is himself because there is nobody else out there saying anything good about him.
So what I want that member to do is to consider that, if he has positive suggestions, the way the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski), the way the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux), the way my caucus members--the member for Portage la Prairie (Mr. Faurschou), a relatively new member to our caucus and a wonderful addition, now this is a person who comes to me and says, Mr. Minister, I have got a particular problem in Portage la Prairie: It deals with gangs. Can we address it in some way? You know, more often than not, there are solutions.
This brings me then to the resolution. I know that the members are very impatient, but I think those introductory remarks have to be made. I welcome this opportunity as an opportunity to say to the other members that, if you have got a good idea, just come and tell me. Let us work with my department. Do not undermine my department. Do not undermine my department so that my department officials are scared to work with them. I know my department officials are not scared to work with the member for The Maples (Mr. Kowalski) or the member for Inkster (Mr. Lamoureux) because they are MLAs of integrity. That is the way they deal with the staff. They treat them as professional people, and that needs to be reminded. Our public servants, and I was a public servant, deserve the kind of respect from our election officials that all too often is not coming from the member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh).
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Well, what I want to say is that in the so-called Gang Action Plan by the NDP--I, in fact, have read it. I refer to it from time to time, and I say: Are there things here that we should be doing, that they have brought to our attention? If we go through the Gang Action Plan, we know that many of these things have been implemented for some period of time. Some have not been implemented for reasons either they are beyond our constitutional jurisdiction or we have no ability to do something like that or they are impractical.
So I want to assure the member that this is not a government that wants to say to them that, just because it is an NDP idea, it is not a good idea. You know, I know there are good ideas that come from MLAs who have been elected under the NDP banner. That is not a sacrilege to say. There are many who in fact have had good ideas. Sometimes their ideas are a little passé, as I would say Karl Marx's ideas, a little passé. Some of the NDP ideas similarly are a little passé, but there are still issues here raised in the Gang Action Plan that I constantly challenge my staff, and I say: Is this workable? Is this something we can do? But the member from St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh) does not say to me: Why do we not implement this? How can we do this? Why can we not do that?
I really have not been able to get into the substance of what we have done, and I know some of my members will be talking about some of the things that we have done. But I want this to be an open invitation to the members opposite, because I know that, if we do not solve inner-city problems, they do not stay in the inner city. They come into the suburbs; they come into the country. The members from the NDP party may be surprised at this; I am not. So I want to assure them that crime is a community problem and it is a multifaceted issue.
There are issues of suppression; there are issues of alternative justice programs; there are partnerships. I want to say that community partnerships are perhaps the most effective way of dealing with all of these problems. Yes, government has to be there to supply the funding in many cases, to supply some of the professional expertise in the community area, but community ownership of the problem of crime is the most effective way of dealing with the crime.
I want to leave one last point, and that was, I was in Weston-Brooklands the other day. I know it is not represented by an MLA from this side of the House, but I met with two wonderful people who are getting together what in the country they call the COP program. It is a citizen patrol program there as well. Here were two gentlemen in this area--and I am not going to name them here publicly; I do not think it is necessary--who have gathered together people in their community to take on the issue of crime, working together with their police and working together with our Justice department. That is positive community action, and that is the kind of positive community action that I support in addition to the issue of suppression.
Mr. Gary Kowalski (The Maples): Yes, I would like to put a few words on the record on this resolution. I look at the resolution, and I read the first THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: "that the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba urge the Provincial Government to consider developing policies which offer hope and opportunity to provide positive alternatives to youth, as well as swift meaningful and firm consequences to members of criminal gangs." I can support that. I do not think there is anyone who cannot support that type of resolution.
But there are other parts--and I am no "patsy" of government. I do not respond to any kind words of the minister, although I always appreciate any compliments I get, and I do not think that I have ever been that partisan in this Chamber. So, when I take issue with the third WHEREAS, "WHEREAS the tough talk of the Provincial Government has not been matched with action," I have to argue with that one. There has been action. Maybe it is not enough, maybe it has taken too long, but I have seen a number of things and been involved in a number of things that are happening. There is the last one that the minister just mentioned, the small support he has given to the COP program, which, I think, is an excellent initiative.
I know that, when I was a community constable in the Lord Selkirk development, there were many people who wanted to start that, but there just were not the funds available at that time to support such initiatives. Also, to be quite honest, I do not believe there was the support from the police to support citizens in Winnipeg doing this sort of auxiliary police work, but times have changed. So that is one of the initiatives.
I had the pleasure of being in the first class of people being trained to be family group facilitators for family group conferencing. In that class that was held at Winnipeg Police Service recruiting centre this past summer, there were members from the RCMP there, there were people from the Winnipeg Police, there were people from the Winnipeg School Division, there were people from Portage, there were probation officers, social workers. This was bringing people together to look at an alternative to our court system, family group conferencing. Since then, I know that the training has been given to a large number of people who are volunteer probation officers in Youth and Corrections. I also know that the Justice department has brought in people from New Zealand or Australia, I am not too sure which one, to speak to a number of senior bureaucrats in the Justice department. I understand that a number of people from the judiciary were also invited but chose not to attend, to look at these new, progressive models of justice system.
I have to tell you, I am very impressed with this family group or community group conferencing method of dealing with the justice system. I perceive it as going back to the basics of a justice system for the community, by the community, without lawyers. I do not have anything personally against lawyers, but sometimes the system seems to work best with less involvement from that branch of the legal community.
So there are things being done. I know Glen Cochrane and Dawn Sealy, who are working the youth gang prevention office, and I know the support that they are receiving. I know, talking to many colleagues in the police department who of course, like anyone else in public service, are always looking for more money, for more equipment, more projects, but they are relatively pleased with the direction it is going.
So, no, the youth gang problem will not be addressed overnight. I have not put a youth gang action plan with Liberal letterhead out to the public to try to sell it, but I am out there working trying to solve the problem. I am bringing forward suggestions. I am working with everyone from the John Howard Society, Elizabeth Fry Society, the Together for Change initiative in Valley Gardens and working with a number of groups to continue to work.
This will not be solved overnight, but I believe that there is some movement by this present government. So I cannot support that third WHEREAS, that there has been no action taken. There has. There could be more, there always could be more. There always could be more money put into it, but I think we should continue to work together to try to solve this problem and not put out brochures with our political logo and then ask for support to those ideas. Thank you.
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Hon. David Newman (Minister responsible for Native Affairs): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to have an opportunity to speak to a subject that is of great interest to me not only representing the constituency of Riel that has its share of issues which are identifiable with the core area of Winnipeg in some pocketed instances but also because of my involvement as Minister responsible for Native Affairs in the province.
I am going to speak to the resolution in ways that cannot support the resolution, unfortunately, because the subject matter is worthy of unanimous support in the Legislature, but the honourable member for St. Johns (Mr. Mackintosh) chose to take a partisan political approach on a resolution and put in negative comments about the government, not with the desire to seek unanimity or to seek an agreed-upon solution which could propel forward initiatives we, as legislators, see as important and constructive but rather chose to use the resolution to try and achieve a political advantage.
That is regrettable because, as was proven with the resolution concerning the MAI, we were able to achieve something meaningful through unanimity and a very useful debate, once the amendment was put forward by our side of the House, which facilitated and indeed engendered some very constructive thoughts on an issue where individual citizens and groups of individual citizens are seeking guidance and support.
So I have to speak against the resolution as worded, but I am going to speak to the resolution as if all the partisanship and the unconstructive parts of it were not there and address an issue which is of profound importance to the province and certainly to the city of Winnipeg.
I had the good fortune to participate recently in a launch of a publication, and I am going to give recognition to the author of that publication, a person named Richard Courchene, and the book that he has written, with the support of a far broader community and family, is called Healthy Visions for a Healthier Future: Aboriginals of the Next Millennium. There is a portion in that book that deals with gangs, and gangs from an aboriginal perspective and looking for a healing solution, a holistic healing solution for aboriginal community members who are either part of gangs or could be part of gangs or people that are victimized by gangs. The kinds of thoughts that he shares in his books, and the ideas he shares, are very much consistent with the multifaceted strategy of our government which is, of course, led by the Department of Justice and the honourable minister who has just spoken to the resolution.
The three-pronged strategy, of course, does fall into the categories of suppression and intervention, prevention and partnerships. What Richard Courchene in his book speaks to is primarily the prevention end of things. That is where the long-term solutions, of course, lie. Before you move forward with prevention strategies, before you invest in a long-term way to try and impact in a multigenerational way, looking seven generations ahead, you are going to have to approach many agencies and many departments, and even different levels of government, to co-operate and become partners, and that is why partnership is a major thrust of the three-thronged strategy.
There is a need to understand the essence of the gang problem from an aboriginal perspective if there is to be a solution, and that is what Courchene starts with in his book under gangs. He makes the point that gangs and gang-related activity is a reality in impoverished inner-city living and clearly evident in the city of Winnipeg. In research findings, younger and younger children are coerced into joining gangs, but the question he poses is why.
He seeks the answers from elders and cultural teachers, and the conclusions that he comes to, which are in the book, one of the reasons, is the blotchy interfered history of the aboriginal population of this country. According to our elders, this problem goes back at least seven generations. Intergenerationally, the aboriginal youth of this country have become disillusioned and suffer lack of knowledge about what family is and what it means. In their own way, young people are finding the attractions in gangs that their families cannot and do not provide. Families are not providing unconditional love and generosity. Many children learn today that in order to get something you take it, because parents and society in general are not unconditional. The children and youth of today find gratification with unconditional safety in gangs, which has not been provided elsewhere.
He goes on to say that when a child examines his or her family structure and looks at what the family has to offer and what a gang has to offer, quite often the gang looks more appealing. A gang offers protection, generosity and acceptance. The dynamics of a street gang includes rules and structure which a family used to offer before the disintegration of the family unit. Children look at the family and look at society. They see the wages a person makes for two weeks, and they compare it to the amount they can make in a day. Quite often, it can be 10 or 20 times more than two weeks wages, and they see that what society has to offer does not even remotely come close to what a gang has to offer, hence the attraction.
He goes on to talk about the gangs developing their own societies, and he talks about the sorts of replications of family in a gang situation filling the needs that these young people have. He goes back to look at history and says there was a time in the aboriginal community where youth learned how to be humble. There was a time when the young were taught how to be humble, and, traditionally, by being more humble on this earth, one acquired more status and more respect.
Unfortunately, that is just not how it is today. The Europolitical way is to take power from other people and acquire as much as one can. The breakdown of traditional values has led to aboriginal children and youth pursuing gang life because it--that is gang life--offers a sense of belonging and structure to the otherwise dysfunctional lifestyles.
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So looking at the why, he then tries to figure out how. What is the solution? What do you do to replace this identification with gangs as a substitute for dysfunctional families? Madam Speaker, he poses the question, is this a societal problem, and if so, how should society reverse this trend? Again, he goes back to the elders for guidance, and he says according to elders and cultural teachers in the aboriginal community, one way is to reclaim lost relationships by reclaiming aboriginal values and traditions. The nurturing acknowledgement of oneself is a process the community has to take, elders say. Courageous stances must be taken even in the face of great adversity, but if one believes in aboriginal children and youth, elders and cultural teachers say good things will occur and great things will be accomplished. Elders say children and youth must come first at all costs.
Now, what we are hearing expressed in this text are the views of a young man being almost a medium for the guidance of the cultural teachers and the elders. It is no accident that this book was launched, Madam Speaker, at the single-window office in the Aboriginal Centre on Higgins right here in the city of Winnipeg last week. The single window, which is a multidepartmental presence of the federal and provincial government addressing the needs of aboriginal people and the aspirations of aboriginal people, is contributing to the real solution dealing with gangs.
This book, given birth through that office which is given credit by the author--and I give credit to one of the staff in the Native Affairs Secretariat within my department because the author gave a specific tribute and an expression of appreciation for the work done by a mentor, Lawrie Barkwell, who works in that office and services people like Richard who are becoming leaders and educators, teachers in the aboriginal communities. So the complexity of addressing this problem is exhibited, I think, by the different ways solutions can be offered. Governments contribute to prevention by facilitating these kinds of births, by facilitating the kinds of partnerships that the Children and Youth Secretariat is identified with and is working very hard at.
All of the programs that they have that are emerging to strengthen families, whether they are positive parenting programs or Earlystart programs, the federal government's Headstart Program, whether it is the way we do child care, whether it is the way nutrition strategies and teachings are delivered, all of these things the Children and Youth Secretariat is involved in. All contribute to the real solution for gang problems.
The need is for families to strengthen and for personal development of individuals for the deepest kind of healing, an emergence with spiritual and religious teachings involved of individual human beings, of course, particularly the young ones who have the best chance still to adjust and make that big transition and move forward positively.
This involves teachers in schools. It involves parents, relatives, grandparents, and uncles and aunts. It certainly involves people that are involved in Guides and Scouting and Cadets, and the aboriginal versions that are emerging in culturally appropriate ways to serve these kind of social and individual personal development needs.
It is developing positive citizens, equipping them, giving them the capacity to be capable of meeting the pressures to join gangs, the pressures to find the easy way out, the pressures to escape, the pressures for a quick fix, the pressures to be somebody in the gang kind of way and to stand up with the strength, the conviction and strong values and be yourself and take responsibility for your own life. These are multifaceted approaches that create this kind of individual, and in many cases it involves spiritual and religious teachings, and involvement.
In the closing portion--I just wanted to quote--he says, elders believe in the power of positive prayer and in people who walk in faith. Elders believe in prayer, the kind of prayer that changes lives. There are those in the aboriginal community who walk in faith, who have changed their lives through positive prayer and work toward achieving peace among the youth. Many elders, however, believe that they will not see peace in their lifetime, but they feel they will see a greater part of peace transpire. The elders teach: those who stand, should hold a child's hand in each hand; then, only then, will there be a future.
Mr. Mervin Tweed (Turtle Mountain): Madam Speaker, I, too, am pleased to rise and put a few comments on the record in regard to the resolution that has been brought forward. As I sit here day after day and listen to some of the resolutions that come forward, it certainly is enlightening as far as coming from rural Manitoba, small-town community. I think of some of the activities that take place in the communities that I represent, I guess not necessarily gang related, but certainly criminal activity to a certain degree and how it is being dealt with in those areas.
I listened carefully to what members opposite and my colleagues say. I think as much as we try sometimes to ignore the facts, it is certainly an issue that is out there, and, certainly, as I spend more time here, I become more familiar with some of the problems that face communities, not just in the larger centres but certainly all over the province.
You know, I have read in the past little while some of the things that have happened in rural Manitoba. I can remember not that long ago, activities that we used to say, well, that would never happen here, are moving closer. I think the issue that has been brought up is certainly one that is worth discussing, but I guess I have a little more concern than just in the presentation of the resolution.
I know quite often members of government are chastised by the opposition for bringing forward resolutions that are pat-on-the-back types of resolutions, and from time to time I suppose we do that. This, I guess, would be the opposition doing the same for themselves. They have brought forward a plan or a proposed plan that they feel will resolve some of the issues that are out there.
I think that as the honourable Minister for Justice (Mr. Toews) has stated, any idea that is out there, no matter who brings it forward or who formulates the idea, if it is brought forward in a constructive, thoughtful manner, I think everybody is more interested in listening to it and hearing what is being said, and I think through debate and through conversation, quite often an idea brought forward by anybody can be turned into a very positive idea. I think that that is what this discussion today is all about.
I think that whenever we get involved in a debate where we are just congratulating ourselves for the things that we have done or, in this case, what the opposition feel they have done, it somewhat belittles the objective that were set out to discuss them and to try and come up with ideas.
I think of ideas in my communities that have taken place and, you know, again, I think in rural Manitoba quite often we are unaware of a lot of the activity that is taking place and, when you travel to communities and listen to what people are saying, you become more aware--
Madam Speaker: Order, please. When this matter is again before the House, the honourable member for Turtle Mountain (Mr. Tweed) will have 11 minutes remaining.
The hour being 6 p.m., this House is adjourned and stands adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday).