Madam Speaker, with your leave, I have a few questions to ask. I am told that counselling is important. Since there are four minutes remaining, I will try to ask a two-minute question so that the hon. member will also have two minutes to answer me.
When one talks about mediation and counselling—I too am a mediator not only at the civil level but also at the family level—this is the best solution if one wants diversion and to act in the best interests of children.
How is it that this has existed in Quebec for several years already? It is even obligatory to provide information sessions regarding mediation. The hon. member tells us that yes, that is good. It is true, Quebec is ahead in this area, and the reason is that family law is a provincial jurisdiction.
It is because of your Constitution that there is a federal Divorce Act. Did you know that you are behind the times? That is probably why Canadians who are married and use the Divorce Act are obliged to wait several years. There are delays of seven, eight and even ten years.
The government tells us that we are disrupting things, but we are not. We are simply trying to bring things up to speed. It also tells us that it is trying to change the terms. Is it not in fact simply changing the terms without improving the system?
Improving the system is not a question of just changing the words “custody rights” or “access rights”. Of course, it will tell us that this is what the bar association is calling for. This may well be, but that is not what we need. We need to have the necessary money to invest in the right place to help children and to address the interests of children. Then we will have legislation that will change things. It is not different terms that we need. We need money and we need to focus on hiring psychologists and social workers in the right places and at the right times. Of course it would be even better to do this in the framework of mediation.