Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Nicholson, for being here today. You've certainly been a frequent visitor to the justice committee, and we certainly appreciate the information you provide to us.
I've had numerous visits in my riding office from groups that have had a keen interest in seeing the age of consent raised. Judy Nuttall, who is the chair of the white ribbon campaign against child pornography and exploitation, has been sending ribbons to MPs for the last 11 years, and collecting petitions and sending them to Ottawa. I've had numerous church groups, police officers, and parents come and express their aspirations to see some action. So it gives me great pleasure to see a Minister of Justice pushing this important legislation, and I certainly applaud you for it.
I have two questions for you, and would ask you to share the answers with our committee.
First of all, do you have any examples we can look at of the age of consent in other countries? Also, could you shed some light on why it's taking so long for us to get to this point? With so many Canadians clamouring for this change, why did this not happen 10 or 12 years ago?