Thank you, witnesses, for appearing before us.
In Canada, a fairly modern state that has embraced multiculturalism and diversity, we have to deal with issues that are rooted in different cultures, different mores, and perhaps even practices that are foreign to us. We need to approach this by considering how we blend our society so we are a very successful modern state of diversity that can accommodate all these issues. The reason I'm saying this as a preamble is that I want to get into this issue of forced marriage as well as arranged marriage. As you know, in many societies around the world outside of North America, arranged marriages are quite common.
Given all of these differences and that very often a marriage of a woman from an immigrant culture is outside the traditional North American religions, mores, and cultural practices, should we treat this as an excluded marriage in our immigration system, so we do not subject a woman to abuse?
Should raising the age of consent be one solution? I'd like to hear your comments with respect to whether the forced marriage unit as adopted by the U.K. would be a solution for us to consider.
Let's hear from you first, Mr. Khan.