Thank you very much, Mr. Jacob.
Thank you, ladies, for sharing your expertise with us and for answering our questions.
I must admit that I am caught a bit off guard by my colleague rendering me a service right away, but I must say that being on the committee has taught me a lot of things. One of the things we talked about is the bill being a deterrent. Based on the testimony of many experts during our committee work, I was able to understand that the legislation in itself did not have a huge deterrent effect. At any rate, that is the conclusion I have reached.
Let’s not kid ourselves; people who commit crimes do so assuming that they will not be caught in the act and that they will not be reported. I think that that is a very important aspect to consider, but that does not mean that I do not clearly support the bill. I simply hope that it will be sufficient to finally punish some of those criminal behaviours.
I would like to check something with you, Ms. Eng. In your brief, you presented a number of interesting points. Is it possible that more systematic aspects might reduce vulnerability or, say, the exposure of seniors to abuse? Among other things, I am thinking of financial issues, the automatic enrolment of seniors for old age security and the possibility of offering them more substantial pensions to protect them from circumstances that make them dependent on loved ones, for example. Let's face it; most abuse issues are related to that.
I will give you a chance to answer.