Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I've heard a few comments I'm going to respond to and then I'm going to have a question for Mr. Quist.
One comment I heard at the beginning of this hearing was that a lot of young people are against this. I wanted to note that I received two petitions in my riding from youth groups that were profoundly in support of this legislation, one from St. John Vianney Church, the other from St. Mary's Church. They were from hundreds of young people who very much admire the direction we're seeing in this Parliament—and not just from the government, a lot of parties are supporting this—that it is the right thing to do to protect children.
I also heard a comment that this is an erosion of a youth's sexual autonomy. I'd like to note that this is not an erosion of a youth's sexual autonomy. If a 15-year-old were having sexual relations with a 17-year-old, there's no erosion there. They may choose to do that. But what this means is that it's an erosion of child exploitation, and that's something to be very proud of. It's an erosion that someone who is 50 will not be allowed to have sex with a 15-year-old. That's the only erosion happening, and I think that's something that a lot of young people will be very much in support of and would be very proud of.
I also heard the comment that this is a move toward fundamentalism, and I found that very surprising. I think that characterization would be saying that mainstream Canada is moving toward fundamentalism. Because that's what this is. These are mainstream values. To use the legal term, if you're going to take judicial notice of something, I think it would be safe to say that the majority, the vast majority of Canadians, believe that it's unacceptable to have a 50-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old. This legislation is about the protection of children. Bottom line, that's what it's about. That's why it's getting so much support across political lines.
This legislation is very helpful for that. That's why we've been seeing these white ribbons across the country, wherever we are gathering steam, gathering support. By and large, Canadians of all age groups, in all regions, are very much in support of this legislation.
I think there are many reasons for that, but Mr. Quist, could you talk to us about the long-term consequences of this? To give you a few areas I'd be interested in, one is for children who are exploited in an area this legislation's potentially going to protect. Obviously we're never going to protect against every abuse, every crime, every exploitation, but for the ones that it may help, that this stigma may be there and may prevent a future crime, what are the benefits that's going to have in terms of people who may not have that erosion in their lives? For those who are exploited, are there greater rates of family problems? Are there greater rates of divorces down the road? Are there higher incidences of drug use? Are there higher incidences of crime? Is there any evidence your group might have that would suggest those who are abused or exploited at a young age have their future prospects damaged?
If someone's exploited at a very young age, I think one concern that many would have is that we are damaging their growth so much. It would be interesting if any studies highlight how that affects them, not just in the immediate tragic moment, but 10 years down the road or 20 years down the road, in terms of what happens to these victims.