Mr. Speaker, I know we share a common interest in protecting our children, particularly from sexual predators. Certainly in this country we have seen too many cases where children are exploited. We do not agree with the member's motion but we do agree with the intent, which is to protect young children from sexual exploitation by those who are much older.
The problem that she voices, in terms of raising the age in the manner she proposes, is that it could criminalize other teenagers who are just slightly older than the age of which she speaks, and for better or for worse, young children are having sexual intercourse too young in too many cases.
Perhaps the better way to do this is to invest in more resources to educate children in terms of their sexual health and the options they have, of putting off sexual activity until later and if they are going to engage in sexual activity to make sure that it is done in a safe way.
Second, on the issue of those vile creatures who are pedophiles who prey upon innocent children, perhaps she could recommend ways in which we could identify these people better, penalize them more and, frankly, keep them in jail longer and protect society. In doing the initial assessment on them once they are convicted of engaging in pedophilia, perhaps there could be checks and balances to ensure that when they are released they are not at risk of reoffending.
At the end of the day I think she would agree that our number one priority is to protect innocent children from sexual predation by adults.
Would the member have some thoughts on how we can ensure that pedophiles, who are sexual predators, are not released if they are deemed to be a danger to society?