Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with my colleague on this particular issue. It strikes me as totally ludicrous. We just came off a two week break from Parliament and the vast majority of members of Parliament did as I did, which was to go back to our constituencies and do tours of the ridings.
I had an opportunity to visit the majority of the communities in my large rural riding and speak with the people. This is one of the issues that I spoke to them about along with Bill C-20, the child pornography law.
My constituents are clear on this. If there is a choice between running a risk, as the member for Mississauga South said, of running afoul of the justice practices or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or upholding the protection of society and the most vulnerable members, my constituents, first, come down solidly on the side of upholding the protection of the citizens of the country and second, worry about protecting the rights of the criminals.
However, it seems to me the Liberals always have this backassward. They look at the wrong situation and look at the rights of criminals rather than the rights of victims.
To sum up, 4 out of 10 criminals incarcerated at present for sexual offences will reoffend. For us to say retroactivity does not matter is burying our heads in the sand and it is ensuring that there will be a lot more victims of these people once they are released from prison.