Mr. Speaker, it is quite interesting when we get on this topic how sensitive the government is.
The member knows that what I am talking about is a case that has already been before the court. There is an appeal going on. I am not trying to influence it. I am talking about a case that happened and he knows that. It is quite legitimate.
To hear the other member complain about my colleague saying something about Canada when yesterday government members were calling us “not Canadians” because of the way we voted is shameful. They have no shame left at all. They are so arrogant and they will probably keep on interrupting me throughout my whole speech because of that arrogance.
Let me continue. Those parents, and for that matter anyone with any degree of compassion for the sanctity of the human spirit and life, cannot be faulted in concluding that some individuals with bizarre lifestyles and values want more acknowledgement by the courts as opposed to those who fall within the mainstream of values and lifestyles. Some, it appears, have more right to freedom of conscience than others.
As in the case of any court decision, let alone a controversial one like the Shaw decision, there are ramifications. Decisions are not made to go into a void. There is a fallout and there are long term consequences.
In British Columbia there have been two very real consequences. Because of the Shaw decision two other individuals charged with possession of child pornography have had their cases dismissed. Some 36 other cases are pending and the lower courts hearing these cases have no alternative but to throw them out.
Shaw's decision guarantees the legality of the possession of child pornography until the court of appeal rules in late April. For now British Columbia is the only province where the possession of child pornography is legal, and that is not right.
The assertion by the federal Minister of Justice that things are under control and prosecutions for possession are continuing is simply not true. For now it is open season for pedophiles in British Columbia.
Five days following the Shaw decision a group of 63 Liberal MPs and six Liberal senators began a campaign of protest against the Shaw decision. The 69 signatories to an open letter to their leader, the Prime Minister, called child pornography a product of crime. They called it sexual abuse of children and the work of pedophiles. They stated that the federal government has no greater responsibility than the protection of children by those who prey on their innocence and their inability to protect themselves. They even went so far, in closing a paragraph in their missive to the Prime Minister, as to call for new child pornography legislation and for the Prime Minister to consider using the notwithstanding clause to ensure the charter will never again be used to defend the sexual abuse of Canada's children. A very realistic view of the situation and a reasonable request of the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, empty in honour and resolve and a cruel hoax on children as events would prove themselves 13 days later.
On February 2 these same Liberal MPs were asked to stand in the House and give a meaning of support to their previous protestations. They were asked to support a Reform Party motion calling for the reinstatement of child pornography laws in British Columbia, even if it meant using the very clause of the Constitution Act which they implored the PM to use two weeks before.
When push came to shove, 59 of this virtuous group of Liberal MPs abandoned any notice of the vulnerability of children and their victimization at the hands of pedophiles. Four had the resolve and did what they said they would do.
The task assigned our police in the interdiction of child pornography is a mess. That is why the Shaw decision makes it even more frustrating for those charged with policing and reducing the proliferation of child pornography, particularly its dissemination on the Internet.
In British Columbia's case police can intercede and confiscate child pornography but cannot prosecute. The unregulated Internet has become the vehicle of choice and 20% of all traffic is generated by traceable kiddy porn web sites.
In a recently released RCMP intelligence report British Columbia is identified as the only province where child pornography is a serious concern for law enforcement agencies. Is that not a cruel irony in light of the Shaw decision and its concern for essential person rights for pedophiles?
Those individuals involved in this pernicious behaviour, hiding behind the charter of rights, are attempting to systematically normalize sexual immorality and the Shaw decision gives them that licence.
Herbert London, professor of humanities at the University of New York, said morality is not subjective but is a prerequisite for ordered society. Those who want the transmogrify of value system to which the majority of Canadians subscribe are an anathema to decency and respect.
I will turn now to another tragic example of Liberal government intransigence and dismissal of public concern. Last week we were treated to the long awaited changes to the Young Offenders Act. The new criminal act will be called the youth criminal justice act but despite this high sounding phrase it really will not change things a lot.
There are some glaring omissions and some glaring shortcomings to this act. I will identify some of those. First there is the limitation of the publication of names for certain offences classified as adults.
The bill limits these to five situations: murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault and repeat serious violent offences. This leaves a lot of violent and frightening offences out of the loop.
Second, the Reform Party, and for that matter an all party committee recommendation, called for the lowering of the maximum age of youth offenders from 17 to 15. We did not get this and I am surprised the minister would not address it.
Third, there has been a consistent call from all quarters dealing with young offenders to have the minimum age of offenders lowered to 10 years from 12. Again, the committee of this House and the minister's own justice department years and years ago called for this reduction. So has a private member's bill from one of my colleagues but we have never seen that.
The opting out provisions are also a concern for us. Simply put, there has to be universality in the provisions of the law, period. We also question the federal government's commitment to financial resources to youth justice. The announcement of $206 million is over a three year period. The federal government has never met its 50:50 cost sharing in the youth justice area and this money will hardly make up for that shortfall.
I go back to the point of the 10 to 12 year olds because I was never so shocked, the day that bill was introduced, to see the Minister of Justice talking about Reformers wanting to put 10 and 11 year old children in jail.