News Release

For Immediate Release
September 4, 2007

ST. MARYS — The McGuinty government is expanding the Youth Justice Committee program to eight new communities, ensuring that all 54 court jurisdictions across Ontario can deal more effectively with young people in trouble with the law, Attorney General Michael Bryant announced today.

"Youth Justice Committees work," said Bryant. "They strike the right balance between accountability and community intervention. They hold young people accountable for their actions, but also get them off a path toward serious crime."

The program is an alternative to prosecuting young people who have committed first time offences such as mischief, theft or minor assaults. It brings together teens aged 12 to 17, their parents, victims and trained members of the community to work out an appropriate way for the young person to make amends, such as community service, restitution or a personal apology to the victim.

"Stratford's Youth Justice Committee will help hold young people accountable for their actions, help get them off the path toward serious crime and encourage them to become contributing members of society," said Perth-Middlesex MPP John Wilkinson. "The program also gives local residents a role in improving community safety in the Stratford area."

To date the program has been tremendously successful. More than 80 per cent of the young people involved in the program had no further contact with the justice system after one year.

Youth Justice Committees were first established in 1999 in six locations in Ontario, and expanded in 2001 and 2004, and then doubled in 2006. Now, due to its success, the program has been expanded to Stratford, Goderich, Picton, Napanee, Gore Bay, Parry Sound, Cochrane and Dryden.

"Youth Justice Committees are a meaningful way to involve victims of crime and provide an opportunity for communities to be involved in helping keep their neighbourhoods safe," said Alice Lewis, Director of Community Services, St. Leonard's Society of London. "They hold young people accountable for their behaviour, keep them out of the court system and the path to custody, and provide them the opportunity to become more productive members of society."

This is just one more example of how, working together, Ontarians are improving community safety. Other initiatives include:

• Launching the Youth Challenge Fund with chair Mike "Pinball" Clemons, providing $15 million for community-led programs in the Greater Toronto Area, and $3 million to support community-designed programs led by faith-based groups offering youth positive alternatives to violence
• Pioneering a $26-million state-of-the-art Operations Centre providing for highly coordinated investigations and prosecutions of gun and gang-related offences
• Opening the province's first major crimes court at 361 University Avenue in Toronto. A second major crimes court is currently under construction at the 2201 Finch Avenue West Courthouse in Toronto and it's expected to open this fall.

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