Finally, in determining if and when the dangerous offender provisions should apply, the Court of Appeal determined that,

the question is whether, relatively speaking compared to all other offenders in Canada-male and female, young and old, advantaged and disadvantaged-Neve falls into that small group of offenders clustered at or near the extreme end of offenders in this country.

They also found that Lisa Neve did not fit into that group at all.

Within two days, Lisa went from facing the rest of her life in prison to being released from prison. Uncharacteristic of most young Aboriginal people adopted out to white families at birth, Lisa's adoptive family remains extremely supportive. Despite such support, Lisa still has to work extremely hard to overcome the impact of her imprisonment as she plans for the future. Her mental-health challenges since exiting prison are legion and have been life-threatening, as she struggles to combat the feelings of despair and thoughts of self-destruction and suicide that at times still envelope her. The biggest danger for Lisa remains, however, the reaction of others to her infamous dangerous offender label.

Concluding Comments and Observations

There is sufficient evidence that a preventative approach to addressing crime within the context of socio-economic, gender, racial, and ethno-cultural realities is far more cost-effective than current criminal justice approaches. Rather than placing young people in either the adult or the juvenile justice system, most people would prefer to see better services for youth in community settings. While popular in the short term, "quick fix" criminal justice responses cannot address what are fundamentally social justice and equality issues. It is far too simplistic and short-sighted to presume that the off-loading of scapegoated youth onto the criminal justice system will solve youth crime. Nor will youthful offending be eliminated by the mere enactment of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in isolation. Broader-based social reform is fundamental.

As was discussed earlier, the Minister of Justice recently re-introduced, as Bill C-7, the replacement for the Young Offenders Act. The proposed Youth Criminal Justice Act aims to divert more youth from the youth justice system via extra-judicial means. It also proposes more stringent measures for youth convicted of serious and/or multiple offences. Unfortunately, so far there do not appear to be sufficient resources allocated, or national standards developed, to ensure that life will be breathed into the more progressive amendments. Yet again we are left to rely on the provinces and territories to implement progressive elements of the Bill. Without new resources there is faint hope that some of the provinces will do much to change the administration of juvenile justice in their respective jurisdictions. Hence, unless the government links its cost-sharing agreements with the provinces to the implementation of the progressive portions of the proposed new Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act could end up being a mere rhetorical reframing of vitally important and unresolved issues pertaining to criminalized youth in Canada.

The legal system reinforces sexist, racist, and classist stereotypes of women while simultaneously legitimizing patriarchal notions of the need to socially control women. We must commit to transforming the social and economic position of girls and women and adamantly challenge attempts to further subjugate women if we are truly interested in addressing violence in our communities. We must also refuse to fuel panic with exaggerated and inaccurate claims about increased violent offending by women and girls. Refusing to address the issues raised by the involvement of women and girls in our criminal justice system will continue to cost us much more than money.