A gang-expert in the country says he doubts a proposed government bill designed to stop young people from joining gangs will do what it’s supposed to.
Dr. Mark Totten is a sociologist and author of the book “Nasty, Brutish and Short: The Lives of Gang Members in Canada”.
He says Bill C-394 will only work if comprehensive prevention and rehabilitation programs are coupled along with it, but even then he feels the legislation is flawed.
The bill would make it illegal to recruit a person to join a criminal organization and could impose sentences of up to five years.
Totten says the wording of the bill is vague though, so two teenagers who are in the habit of stealing cars could fit the definition of a criminal organization.
He says the bill will likely result in more aboriginal people getting locked up:
“Gang members are like you and I, they have kids, they’ve got spouses, they’ve got brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents. So what are we going to do? Are we going to tail gang-members and arrest every single person they talk to? Does that mean we’re going to arrest their family members, their siblings, their children? I mean it’s ridiculous.”
He adds prisons are already a breeding ground for gang activity so sending offenders to jail will just encourage more participation in them:
“A lot of the jails and prisons and even young offender centers in the country are gang-infested. So if you’re not a gang member when you enter you’re probably going to become a gang member because you want protection from other inmates or maybe you want access to drugs and alcohol. So again it’s a short-sighted initiative.”
Totten works with anti-gang groups in Regina and Prince Albert.