Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for the Status of Women says that Bill C-27 is a step forward, and I think it is true. I would like to ask her if she agrees with the amendments we want to make to improve the bill.
When she says that mutilation is an illegal act, she is right, but the communities who practise genital mutilation do not intend to commit an illegal act. For them, it is just a cultural and not a religious practice. To improve the bill, I would like certain amendments to be made.
Does the minister, who is also responsible for the status of women, agree with the age limit which means that we would tolerate that a woman over eighteen years of age cannot defend the physical integrity of her body? I think if we want to send a clear message to cultural communities, we must not establish an age limit. This bill wants to send a clear message, but the government is diluting the bill that I brought forward previously.
After the minister made his intentions known on this bill and particularly on genital mutilation, I consulted a few organizations that agree with these amendments and that feel this bill does not go far enough. Anyway, we will hear the various groups concerned with this problem in committee.
I ask the Secretary of State if she would support the inclusion in the bill of people who encourage or assist a person who performs this type of procedure. For the minister, the only person concerned is the one who performs the procedure.
We know that it is a cultural custom and that it is the community which allows a seven or eight-year-old girl to be subjected to genital mutilation, namely the excision of the clitoris. It is atrocious. If we want to send a clear message, there has to be no exceptions, not even for physicians allowing such a medical procedure for health reasons. Doctors know what mutilations are all about.
Also, I would like the Secretary of State to explain to us why an exception was made for physicians when the society of obstetricians does not agree. According to the society, physicians know full well what constitutes an act of mutilation and there is no need to make an exception in their case since it could lead to abuses. I would like the Secretary of State to answer these three questions.