Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the question and in particular to the member for Pickering--Ajax--Uxbridge who has been a leader on the government side with regard to this issue. I hesitate to say this, but I wish we had more like him on the government side. I would rather have more like him on the opposition side so we could be in government and perhaps bring to fruition some of his good work.
There is no question in my mind that there is grounds for appeal within the decision written by Mr. Justice Shaw in the Sharpe case. The member made a very important point in his comments when he said the clock is running. The appeal period is about to expire within a number of days. That is why I called upon the Minister of Justice last week to make a strong intervention, to make a strong representation to the attorney general of British Columbia on behalf of Canadians nationwide to proceed with an appeal. I also called for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to join as an intervener in that appeal process.
I feel that this is certainly what should take place, along with pursuing all other available avenues to close the loophole and to do more to protect children. More can be done with respect to disclosure. More laws can be passed to narrow the proliferation of pornography everywhere. This two pronged approach, I would suggest, is the way to go. The appeal should proceed, but more important and perhaps more timely would be the passage of legislation in this place that would specifically address this broadened, expanded view of artistic merit as it pertains to child pornography. There is no artistic merit in child pornography. We have very strong laws against the proliferation of hate, of racism and of any sort of material in those areas. There is no reason whatsoever why we cannot pass stronger laws to ban outright any sort of pornographic material, written or otherwise.