The average provincial increase was 77 percent. However, the record needs more thorough investigation. Other factors may be involved. Quebec has long had one of the lowest birth rates in the nation. Its proportion of young people is small.
Population growth is stagnant.
The low density of young people and the lack of increasing population pressure likely plays a role in relatively slow increase in youth crime. In the last Parliament, the Bloc Quebecois put forward some 3,000 amendments to the youth bill in an attempt to force Ottawa to give Quebec the right to opt out of its provisions. This time, Quebec s objections are difficult to fathom. The Act explicitly gives the provinces the right to opt out of its most contentious provision, one which allows juveniles as young as 14 to be given adult sentences. Ms. McLellan, with some justification, complains Quebec has failed to specify how this bill would limit Quebec s freedom.