Madam Speaker, I want to thank all hon. members for the support that has been given to this bill. It clearly demonstrates that we can work occasionally in a non-partisan way. I also appreciate the comments.
I just conclude on some of the points that were made here today and give a clarification on some key themes that were repeated.
In Canada today almost 99% of those who apply for pardons actually get a pardon. It is almost a case that if you want one, you get one. Currently there is no information kept as to what kind of crimes are pardoned and which ones are not.
We know for a fact that pedophiles have a high rate of recidivism and we put people at risk who are in their care, particularly children of course. This is what the bill is trying to address which is what we have talked about.
Another key thing we have talked about is that this is in the public interest, so much so that it overrides the privacy concerns of the Privacy Commissioner and he has even said so.
It is an important bill to support. Sometimes what happens with specific bills like this is that the government says it has to do a much more comprehensive review of the issue. Things go on hold and we live with the status quo. Sometimes when we go with the comprehensive review, the idea is that it is too comprehensive and something more specific is needed so nothing ever happens.
This bill, if it can help one child being delivered from abuse and not having to experience the life sentence that abuse is, is worth us putting in place. If we want to do a more comprehensive review on a go forward basis, I have no problem with that.
My appeal to the House is that even if this just stops the abuse of one child then is it not worth it to move this bill along and make the larger changes if need be in the future.