Quebec has a different approach to youth justice from that in the rest of Canada; the greatest difference appears to be in the rate of bringing cases into youth court. The article suggests that differences between Quebec and the rest of Canada are accounted for by the perceived adequacy of the administration of the Young Offenders Act and not by more basic differences in the penal philosophies of the two sets of judges. The article concludes that broad social policies having to do with support for children and policies having to do with institutions such as schools would be much more important in terms of their impact on crime than youth justice policies. Finally, if other provinces are interested in creating a youth justice system modeled on the Quebec system, the principles in the Youth Criminal Justice Act such as limiting the use of court and providing adequate community sanctions would be a good start. Figures, tables, notes, references