Madam Chair, we are clearly all in favour of the principle to protect seniors, be it in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada. I think that goes without saying, and there is no discussion to be had on that. However, we have to be careful. We are elected for certain areas of jurisdiction, and we cannot exceed them. Our sandbox, if I may put it that way, consists of issues that come under federal jurisdiction.
Mr. Virani was earlier talking about amendments to the Criminal Code. If that's about discussing the possibility of creating some penalty or an amendment to the Criminal Code, we can look into it. However, establishing standards applicable to seniors across the country is a provincial responsibility. It is up to Quebec and each Canadian province to do that. I don't think we can meddle in that area by trying to establish such standards, and you will understand that I will definitely disagree with it.
I don't disagree with having standards to protect our seniors, but that comes under the jurisdiction of Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and each individual province, and not the federal government.
Respected colleagues, I ask you to be very careful when we discuss those issues. We all love our parents, grandparents and our seniors, and we want to protect them all—that is not the issue—but our work as members is limited to jurisdictions that come under the federal government. We must be careful and respect provinces on this matter.
Thank you.