Mr. Chair, since it's my question, I don't want to go down on a tangent on the marriage issue. We heard a statistic earlier that it represents, I think, 0.7 out of 100,000. The intent of the bill is to address the issue of adults who want to have sex with 14-year-olds and in many cases come from jurisdictions where they would not be allowed to. So can we stick to that question of whether it is appropriate?
I haven't heard anyone argue that there should not be any age of consent. If there are any arguments to that effect, I'd be interested in hearing them. I haven't heard anyone say there shouldn't be an age of consent, period. So presumably all the witnesses agree with the current age of consent, which is 14, and that we shouldn't lower it to 12. Right now there's a law against an adult having sex with a 13-year-old. This bill raises the age of consent to 16.
So that's the main question: is it appropriate? Should it be legal for a 45-year-old man to have sex with a 14-year-old?