Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all of our witnesses for appearing on what is a really important study of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.
I was pleased to be part of a government that brought in that legislation, which criminalizes those who fuel and perpetuate the demand for prostitution by purchasing sexual services; protects those who sell their own sexual services; deals with the most vulnerable in our society; and makes sure the law is responsive to court decisions, but that we're doing our best to protect those who are vulnerable.
I want to ask a question of Mr. Paul Brandt. Thank you for appearing today. This is something you don't have to do in your time, but you spoke with great passion about what you saw in other countries. We heard from previous witnesses that the complete decriminalization of prostitution in Canada could lead us to becoming the brothel of the United States. It was really horrific to hear the description you gave about a country where this has been completely decriminalized.
Could you speak a bit more to that, as well as about #NotInMyCity, which is combatting human trafficking? I'm interested in hearing a bit more about that. There's a perception about human trafficking as being a big-city issue, but I'm from New Brunswick and, in some of our smaller Atlantic Canada communities, human trafficking is happening now. The corridors where people are trafficked are right across Canada.
If you could speak to that, I'd appreciate it.