Mr. Speaker, prostitution and juvenile prostitution in society are escalating. We could say there are more pimps under and over the age of 18 years than there were ever before. That is a fact in our society; that is happening.
To say that this is a reason for toughening the Young Offenders Act does not make sense to me. There are laws to deal with pimps and those who profit from youth prostitution. We have to look at those laws. We have to examine them to see if they are strong enough. There is no question. That is why I raised it.
The fact of the matter is that we have to look at why we have 16-year old pimps. How does this happen in society? Will punishing them stop it? It has never stopped it before. The only way we can stop it is to try to get to the root of the problem in society. We have to do that.
To say it is simplistic and we are glossing over the problem is the furthest thing from the truth. Crime prevention and citizen participation in crime prevention are everybody's business.