Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Mississauga for his question. I know he has a longstanding interest in this subject and in particular in protecting children.
The short answer is “be warned and beware”. A system that allows police, community service workers and individuals who have access to the registry to identify who those individuals are, and to be cognizant of the fact that they obviously have demonstrated a proclivity, having been convicted of a sexual assault against a child and incarcerated and having found their names on that registry, allows those persons tasked specifically with protecting children to know who those individuals are within the community and to take necessary steps to keep a barrier, a distance, between individuals who might be so inclined.
That information being available, obviously the member would understand that, first, the information has to be accurate, it has to be timely and available, and it has to be broad based, because if offences have occurred on the west coast or the east coast the information must be available to all communities in between.
On the member's first question, I am not trying to be chippy here but these are the types of questions he should be asking his own government in regard to why it has taken so long to get the legislation to this point. Because he is right. He is certainly correct to suggest that for years there has been an outcry for a system such as this. The Province of Ontario took the initiative, largely because of frustration, in enacting a provincial sex offender registry. It is now offering co-operation and collaboration with the federal government to see that the system is applied nationally. I would hope, and in fact I know, that the hon. member is supportive in regard to seeing that happen, and so is the opposition, but let us get it right. Let us not make the mistake that we made, sadly, with current legislation dealing with child pornography, which does not go far enough and does not close loopholes.
My fear is that this legislation in its current form opens several loopholes. Yes, it is always better to take some rather than none, but I hate the feeling of pushing a rock up a hill, getting it to the top and having it roll back on us, which is often what happens with legislation such as this.