Madam Speaker, my colleague from Quebec was absolutely right to say that, as my party's human rights critic, I had to intervene in this debate. I would like to add a few points to her comments.
The human rights standing committee has been discussing and is still discussing the issue of human rights outside Canada. Canada being a country with a good international reputation, we have the responsibility to also give a clear message about human rights around the world.
I had the opportunity on several occasions to condemn the current government's policy, particularly the one of our Prime Minister, who is showing laxness about human rights. More often than not, human rights are used as a bargaining chip in international trade. That is not the policy that should be followed. Of course, we must be open to international trade with all nations. I consider that, very often, boycotts are totally useless, but a clear message must also be sent regarding respect for human rights.
This issue allows us to take action in that direction, first, by sending a clear message to our own fellow citizens, telling them we will not accept that they go outside Canada to abuse young people. The second message is, we must be concerned about these victims, because, as I said earlier, we must be aware that even the best legislation will not be enforced perfectly. So, the best way to solve this problem is to ensure these people, who are in an unacceptable and terrible economic situation, can improve their lot.
We will do this, first, by supporting economic initiatives, but also by asking these countries to adopt democratic rules, that is, to allow their people in general to express themselves in free elections, since, very often, they find themselves in systems where democracy is totally disregarded, and by providing services to their people.
I said earlier and I repeat, and this seems fundamental to me, if the children we are talking about today, who are abused everywhere in the world, were in school, in other words, if they were in the same situation as our own children here in Canada, if the families of these children could take care of them, provide food and shelter, ensure they go to school, take them in hand and keep an eye on them, we would not be discussing this problem, at least not as much as we are doing now. So, we must consider the two aspects.
As my colleague mentioned earlier, it is really as a critic, I do it personally because I believe in these issues, but it is also as the official opposition critic for human rights that I want to bring this aspect to the House's attention.