MP SAYS YORKTON TRAGEDY GENERATES SERIOUS QUESTIONS

Yorkton-Melville MP Garry Breitkreuz says a Yorkton tragedy leaves him
questioning the effectiveness of our laws and their
administration/enforcement, asking how the system has failed.

Addressing the House of Commons during Question Period on Thursday,
Feb. 15, Breitkreuz said, "On March 17, 2003, Kim Walker, fearing for
the life of his morphine-addicted, 16-year-old daughter, Jadah,
confronted her 24-year-old, drug-dealing boyfriend, James Hayward."

Yorkton This Week reported that after her parents got a warrant to
have her held at the Pine Unit for 72 hours, she took a ride to
Hayward's home, a Yorkton rental house. Her father followed, bringing
a semi-automatic pistol.

In the ensuing confrontation at Hayward's home, Walker shot Hayward,
and the young man, who was also addicted to morphine, bled to death.

Breitkreuz said, "Jadah was just 13 when she was lured into the world
of drugs and says she would have been dead in just a few more weeks
had she kept living with her boyfriend -- her pusher.

"But, Jadah also feels the deadly confrontation could have been
avoided. She said the system failed her parents - that if the police
had arrested Hayward earlier or had responded better to the concerns
they raised, her Dad wouldn't be behind bars today."

The MP said, "There are many lessons to be learned from the Jadah and
Kim Walker case by the members of this House (of Commons) who make the
laws, the provinces that administer them and by the police that
enforce them."

In a phone interview following his statement, Breitkreuz said, "The
objective of all this is to ask questions to ask where the system failed.

"The police many times were called to the house, according to Jadah,
and nothing was done." She also claimed the police didn't act
properly, he said.

"I don't know if that is true. I'm simply asking the question. It
should be investigated by the RCMP and the Attorney General.

"I think the information that I have raised would raise those
questions and somebody back in Yorkton who is more knowledgeable
should be asking these things."

Acting Staff Sgt. Mark Doratti, Yorkton Municipal RCMP, said there has
been no request to his detachment for an inquiry and no inquiry is
occurring. "I don't see that one would be entertained at this stage."

Another question is why her drug use was not addressed earlier, he
said. "If she was using drugs at a very young age that indicates there
is a problem that has to be fixed.

"I think another question that has to be asked is why Jadah wasn't
treated for her morphine addiction instead of being released. If that
is, in fact, true and she was sent back to her drug-pusher boyfriend,
the system has failed."

Breitkreuz said he thinks if the age of consent were raised to 16
rather than being kept at 14, an older man could not have been
involved with such a young girl. "I think that should be a concern of
all parents who have teenage children."

The MP said he just wants to raise the questions: "Were the police
just looking away? Do they need more powers?

"Is there a problem with the courts? Is there a problem with the law?"