Unfortunately, I have to say “no”. If just harsher sentencing and more punitive measures were the solution, we would have made at least some dent.
I want to remind this committee that the government of this country made a decision to make forced marriages a crime, and as of today I haven't seen one single successful prosecution under that change in the Criminal Code. There are lots of changes made in the Criminal Code for protecting women. Unfortunately, they don't make a dent on the ground. We also have many crimes where we have the reverse onus provision currently. In fact, the jumping of bail that we're talking about is a reverse onus crime, but so many people are let go on that reverse onus.
I think the solution lies in much deeper intervention. That sits with providing supports and providing more intervention for the perpetrators. We need to create more accountability. That accountability starts with better supports and better education.
The last point I want to make in answer to your question is about educating our young people, but educating them at a very young age. I'm not talking about educating youth. I'm talking about educating children in schools. That's where this education needs to start.
Thank you.