LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY of ALBERTA [The House Met at 10
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April 15, 1983 ALBERTA HANSARD 579 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA head: MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS Department of the Solicitor General Title: Friday, April 15, 1983 10:00 a.m. MR. HARLE: Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise members of the Assembly about plans made by the Alberta govern• ment to provide for the custody, supervision, and rehabil• [The House met at 10 a.m.] itation of young persons charged or convicted under the terms of the new federal Young Offenders Act. This Act deals with offences set out in federal statutes. The Attor• ney General will be introducing a provincial young of• PRAYERS fenders Act to deal with provincial offences. In Alberta the responsibility to provide custody, super• vision, and rehabilitation programs has been assigned to the Solicitor General. The new federal Act provides the [Mr. Appleby in the Chair] youth court with a wide variety of ways in which cases may be disposed of by the court once a young person has been found guilty of an offence. Among these are community service orders, probation, open custody, and head: INTRODUCTION OF BILLS secure custody. Open custody includes admission to community residential centres, group homes, child care Bill 223 institutions, and forest or wilderness camps. Secure cus• An Act to Prevent Discrimination tody means facilities specifically designed for the secure on the Ground of Political Beliefs containment or restraint of young offenders. Provision is also made for both continuous and intermittent custody, MR. MARTIN: Mr. Speaker, I beg leave to introduce for early release, for day release, and for temporary leave Bill No. 223, An Act to Prevent Discrimination on the of absence from custody. Ground of Political Beliefs. The department will provide separate institutional facil• The Bill would amend the Individual's Rights Protec• ities for young offenders who must be kept in secure tion Act to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of an custody. They will not be housed in adult correctional individual's political beliefs, except in the case of political centres. Some existing facilities now operated by the parties and other political groupings the primary aim of Department of Social Services and Community Health which is the furtherance of a given set of political beliefs. and agencies it supports will be turned over to the department, and some new facilities may have to be built. [Leave granted; Bill 223 read a first time] These matters will be decided within the necessary time frame, and a committee of senior officials is working on necessary steps to implement this decision. head: INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS The Attorney General is developing plans to meet the increased legal services and court-related duties required MR. WOO: Mr. Speaker, I take pleasure in introducing for prosecution, and to carry cases before the youth to you, and through you to members of the Assembly, a court. class of 54 grade 6 students who attend Our Lady of Both Social Services and Community Health, and So• Perpetual Help school in the constituency of Edmonton licitor General, have drawn heavily on the services of Sherwood Park. They're accompanied this morning by private-sector agencies and citizen volunteers in recent their group leader Mr. Jim Ziebart and teacher Michelle years. Continuing use will be made of these resources, in Barrey, with transportation courtesy of Mrs. Betty Ledg• order to provide good opportunities for the young of• er. They are seated in the members gallery, and I now ask fender, particularly the young offender who can benefit that they rise to receive the warm welcome of this from community-based programs. Assembly. The new Act provides that secure custody is only to be used as a measure of last resort for the protection of MR. SPARROW: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today society. Open custody is to be ordered whenever possible. to introduce to you and to members of the Legislative The department's province-wide system of probation and Assembly a group of 30 grade 6 students from the J.E. community corrections offices and programs will be Lapointe school located in Beaumont in the Wetaskiwin- adapted, where necessary, to provide rehabilitation op• Leduc constituency. Accompanied by Mrs. Yearwood, portunities and supervision for young offenders. they are in the members gallery. I ask that they rise and The new Act establishes a new age category for young receive the warm welcome of the House. persons in conflict with the law, aged 12 to 17 years inclusive. At present in Alberta, those 16- and 17-year- MR. KING: Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce to olds are treated as adults in all criminal matters, includ• you, and through you to members of the Assembly, 45 ing custody. Offenders aged 7 to 15 years inclusive are grade 8 students from St. Mary high school in Edmonton now dealt with under the terms of the federal Juvenile Avonmore, the constituency of my colleague the Hon. Delinquents Act of 1908 and 1929, which is now replaced Horst Schmid. They are accompanied this morning by by the new Young Offenders Act. In Alberta, custody and teacher Mr. Rissling. I'm sorry communications have supervision of juvenile delinquents has been provided by broken down, because I know they are accompanied by Social Services and Community Health. That department others whose names I do not have. But I would like to will continue to be responsible for children under 12, ask the students and the adults accompanying them to under the provisions of the Child Welfare Act, and for please rise and receive the welcome of the Assembly. non-offenders up to and including age 17. There will be 580 ALBERTA HANSARD April 15, 1983 close co-operation and liaison between the two requesting the other two provinces to defer discussions of departments. a power grid for two years? The federal government has announced that the federal Young Offenders Act will be proclaimed in force on MR. BOGLE: Mr. Speaker, as I was not the minister of October 1, 1983, with respect to offenders aged 12 to 15 the department at that time, I rely heavily on the news inclusive. The Act's application to offenders 16 and 17 release, which was not issued by the Minister of Utilities must be co-ordinated with the provinces and will take and Telephones for the province of Alberta in isolation place no later than April 1, 1985. from the ministers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba but The federal Act imposes new administrative costs on which was a joint news release. Therefore I can only come the province. The federal government has indicated that to the conclusion that all three parties agreed to the some assistance will be provided with these costs, but has contents of the news release. not as yet indicated what that assistance might be. Mr. Speaker, this announcement is intended to provide MR. NOTLEY: Mr. Speaker, a supplementary question. an outline of our plans. Indeed, there are many details In view of his comments that there would be further still to be worked out, particularly with respect to institu• information in the budget concerning both the Slave tions that will be used for this program. project and the Dunvegan dam project, is the minister in As plans progress, I will endeavor to keep hon. a position to advise the Assembly today when we may members informed. They are being developed in a way expect further information, as the minister promised on that is consistent with the philosophy of the new federal March 14? Act, which states, at section 3(1 )(a): . while young persons should not in all instances MR. BOGLE: Mr. Speaker, under the rules of the be held accountable in the same manner or suffer the Assembly, the hon. Leader of the Opposition has the same consequences for their behaviour as adults, right to designate a department for estimates on a given young persons who commit offences should nonethe• Monday. I suggest to the hon. member that if he wants to less bear responsibility for their contraventions. go into the matter in some detail, he give due considera• Mr. Speaker, I will be delivering to hon. members a tion to the rules of this House. publication entitled The Young Offenders Act, 1982, Highlights, put out by the federal government. MR. NOTLEY: Mr. Speaker, that gratuitous advice may Thank you, Mr. Speaker. be in fact be accepted. But I put to the minister whether he can tell the House when the studies that were alluded to on March 14 will be released and whether those studies were general in nature as opposed to being specific to the head: ORAL QUESTION PERIOD Limestone plant project in Manitoba, on which power costs would somewhat lower. Hydro-Electric Power Development MR. BOGLE: Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is again MR. NOTLEY: Mr. Speaker, I'd like to direct the first bringing together two issues. The key thing to remember question to the hon. Minister of Utilities and Telecom• is that Alberta took the initiative with the former gov• munications. It's with respect to questions posed on ernment of Manitoba on the question of an western March 14 concerning the Slave and Dunvegan proposals. Canada electric grid. We worked very hard with our sister In view of the publicly stated position of the Manitoba provinces to come to an agreement. We reached a tenta• Minister of Energy and Mines that the province of tive agreement. There was a change of governments in Manitoba can beat the price, if you like, of power Manitoba, and suddenly the conditions changed very produced from the Slave project, will the government of dramatically.