Mr. Speaker, the Globe and Mail reported the sad story of a poor family whose four daughters aged 8 to 18 were regularly sold to strangers and subjected to rape and physical violence. This family lives in the Philippines, but it could just as well be in India, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia or China.
In these countries, and in many others, children are used daily for sexual purposes by a certain type of tourists from richer countries like Canada. These same tourists would never dare to engage in such behaviour here.
That is why this House must take a strong stand and condemn unequivocally these unscrupulous people. We need the tools with which to pursue and punish those who leave aside all respect for human dignity as soon as they set foot in another country and who shamefully abuse defenceless children.