Mr. Speaker, I think it is quite clear that I will be joining the majority of the House in supporting this piece of legislation.
The minister made a couple of comments that I found pretty intriguing, especially when he emphasized the importance of prevention. Prevention is a big thing in fighting crime. I do not think anybody will disagree with that. However, part of preventing crime is to make certain that the penalties for the crime committed are significant and will send a clear message to any perpetrator that it is not going to be accepted and the penalties will be rather severe.
I want to refer to the United States Congress passing the trafficking victims protection act, which created new laws criminalizing trafficking with respect to slavery, involuntary servitude and forced labour. It increased prison terms for all slavery violations from 10 years to 20 years and added life imprisonment where the violation involved the death, kidnapping or sexual abuse of the victim.
It is important to note that without serious penalties for these serious crimes, the exploitation and abuse may continue to happen. There would be no deterrent. In this legislation, I do not see any mandatory prison sentences which would send a clear message for human slavery, one of the worst crimes among all human rights that is occurring.
The minister says he truly believes prevention is a big thing with the government. I have a hard time believing that when the government would not support raising the age of consent. It makes absolutely no sense to me to say that we still allow grown men to have sex with 14-year-old children. That is not preventing problems; that is allowing problems to continue. Why are there no mandatory prison sentences and should there be, in his view? In my view, there definitely should be.