Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to everyone here today, as well as the members of the Smith family, who are joining us via videoconference.
My first words will be for you guys.
Nobody can even fathom the idea of what you went through, but through both of you, I have the feeling that your daughter was here with us at the time you were speaking. I don't remember, I think it was 800 presentations, Ed was saying that you did, Ms. Smith. I'm in awe that you picked yourself up and decided to do something about it. For that, I really salute you.
At the same time I was listening to your story, I was thinking of another one that I heard not too long ago but in another context. It was not the one on the prostitution bill but on the missing and murdered aboriginal women. I went with some of my friends from the U.S. Embassy to visit a reserve not too far from my riding in Gatineau, in Maniwaki, an Algonquin reserve where two young girls completely disappeared on September 6, 2008. Police think they might have been grabbed for prostitution, which could be likely. Their mothers are not removing any hope from their hearts .
Sometimes you might hear things in Regina that the bad opposition parties really support all the johns, and this and that, and the people who human traffic. That's not true. They're simply trying to find the balance and the right way to do things. I really wanted to convey this to you, so at least you can share this a bit in your neck of the woods.
For me, when I look at the legislation, I look at it in its entirety. I heard your message about the police not reacting when you were talking to them. That's exactly what I heard from the mothers of Maisy and Shannon, that they were not taken seriously. When I see the number of times we have asked for a national inquiry and keep hearing, “Well, we don't need a national inquiry because we know what the problem is”, but we don't fix it. That's kind of sad.
But at the same time we have to careful not to—how do I say that—
mix things.
My apologies, but I'm having trouble coming up with the right word in English. No doubt, the interpreters will find the right expression.
Human trafficking and prostitution. So all the examples that I'm hearing here, through the committee, I take with all the other examples of those who have been trafficked and end up in prostitution. We have to address this. It's a complex issue; it's not as simple as one, two, three.
To Mr. Cassells, you might like the preamble. Enjoy it, because when the law is adopted, except for those geeks like me who like to go back, not many people will see the preamble. It won't be part of the criminal section. That's very important because for a lot of people we hear it here. They talk a lot about the preamble, but for lawyers it's going to give an impression of the story behind certain dispositions and it will be interpreted in different ways. Take two lawyers and they will interpret it very differently, so don't put too much hope on a preamble, please.
At least I will give you credit, you're honest. Abolition is the way to go. I find that interesting because France, which has been quoted as being a place that is thinking about the Swedish and Nordic model, just today decided to remove criminalization of the client. Imagine, the client. They were going through the Nordic model. Why? I'll mention what their decision was.
I am going to switch to French. I apologize, but these comments were made in France, where they speak French like me.
They refer to the fact that the provisions aren't coherent from a legal standpoint, because allowing prostitution in France—
Mind you, all of you who are listening to us, prostitution will not be made illegal by Bill C-36. The Conservatives have not said that.
and doing away with sanctions against solicitation can't be reconciled with penalizing clients.
That's what they said. France is currently deliberating the issue and the discussion is at the committee stage of the process. Working out the appropriate provisions isn't easy.
I'd like to ask the lawyers here what they think of that reasoning in France's decision. What do they make of the fact that the problem can't be solved simply by criminalizing one half of the equation? Basically, either no one is breaking the law or the law is hypocritical.
Racolage is “solicitation”.