Mr. Speaker, as the grandfather of four grandchildren, including five year old Kayla, my heart is grieved over what happened to Jessica Koopmans in Lethbridge. This five year old was innocently on her way to her friend's house when she was abducted and brutally murdered.
How could anyone so violently attack a little girl? It is totally beyond comprehension. The person who did this is really sick.
While the federal government dithers on a registry of sexual offenders and child molestors, the provincial governments are going ahead to set up their own. However it would be much better to have a nationwide registry since it would track offenders everywhere instead of just in their home province. Alberta is fast-tracking the setting up of such a registry, following the lead of Ontario and British Columbia.
I cannot understand why the federal government is doing nothing to set up a national registry to protect our children. It would make a great deal more sense than registering the long guns of law-abiding citizens who go hunting in fall.