First of all, with respect to the close-in-age exemption, it wasn't the responsibility of the opposition party to draft legislation. Certainly the opposition Conservatives were very vociferous in terms of asking that the government of the day address the question of 14- and 15-year-olds. If the close-in-age exception helps make it, in your words, “more palatable” to the Liberals, then I'm pleased about that. I think it's a reasonable amendment to have in this piece of legislation. Quite frankly, I think it strengthens the legislation, and I'm glad.
Hopefully this bill will get passed and it won't go the route of some previous pieces of legislation that have been introduced into this Parliament. I'm well aware of the fact that this is a minority Parliament and that basically none of our justice legislation can get through unless somebody steps forward and supports it.
Are you asking me if I was encouraged? I was encouraged in the last election when I heard that a number of these issues were important to political parties. So yes, I'd like to see progress made on a whole wide range of our justice legislation. Certainly this one is very important to the members of my political party, so yes, I appreciate any cooperation that we get in terms of moving the bill forward and hopefully receiving support.
With respect to your second comment on section 159 of the Criminal Code, I think I can paraphrase my predecessor by saying this bill isn't meant to cover all areas of sexual activity. There are a number—many, quite frankly—different sections in the Criminal Code that touch on sexual activity. This had a specific purpose, which was to raise that age of protection, move it from 13 to 14 and 15, to protect all 14- and 15-year-olds. I indicated that whether it's heterosexual or gay sex, they are protected under the provisions of this legislation.
I think it's a step in the right direction. Does it address every section in the Criminal Code that touches on sexual activity? It doesn't. It has a specific direct purpose. I think it's a legitimate one, and it should be supported.