Mr. Speaker, in response to the Speech from the Throne, the justice minister announced that he would be introducing a children's legislative package that may take aim at child pornography on the Internet.
There is an epidemic of child pornography in this country. In the Toronto area alone 500 residents have been identified as being in possession of child porn. Due to the strict rules of evidence disclosure, investigators are required to view and catalogue every piece of pornography they seize. The investigations are so time consuming that only 20 Toronto area men have been charged this year. Yet in those 20 cases the numbers are staggering. Police have identified tens of thousands of victims in the more than 1.7 million photos and movies they have seized.
The very first thing the minister can do is provide our police with some relief by allowing them to treat child pornography the same as they do for drug crimes. In other words, a sample is considered to be representative of the whole. Give our police the means to do their job properly in their fight against child exploitation.
I want to thank Focus on the Family for its efforts.