Thank you, Monsieur Petit, for that question.
You're quite correct that this bill covers a wide range of areas within the Criminal Code. I believe all of them stand up for the rights of victims. I think they are a reasonable response to a number of different issues that have confronted us. These were certainly issues we talked about in the last election that we would proceed with.
You're asking me why we put this together in one comprehensive piece of legislation. I'll begin by saying that it's because we didn't get them passed in the spring, or the winter for that matter, and I think these are pieces of legislation that will generally and for the most part be welcomed by Canadians. They want to see the different components of this piece of legislation in place.
I said in my opening comments that one of my favourites was the age of protection. It's long overdue in this country. We can argue about whether it should have gotten through in the spring or the summer, but I would go so far as to say that it's a century overdue. That piece of legislation reflects the mores and some of the thoughts of the 19th century, the idea that...and it happens. It happens. A 40-year-old can be preying upon a 14-year-old and then make the case or something that Canadian law doesn't cover this. It's wrong. It doesn't make sense to me. So I want to see this get passed, and I'm hoping that putting this together....
Again, we could argue for another hour about why it didn't get passed last spring or last summer, but I think this is a good way of profiling these issues. I think they have been thoroughly aired. I'm hoping this committee will move forward and say that these are reasonable items. All of them have been in the public arena for at least a year. Granted we made some changes, some amendments, in response to a number of groups, including the attorneys general, but I'm hoping this committee will move forward on this. I truly believe Canadians will thank us if we move forward and get this comprehensive piece of legislation passed.
Thank you very much for your comments. I appreciate your commitment to this.