It makes us wonder. What in the devil are we are talking about? The Liberals are in here saying, “We are the party of rights, we are the party of equality, we are the great ones, we are the wonderful ones”. But time after time they reject the very commonsensical rights that ought to have been in place long before this.
I am not even going to talk about the spousal rights of the Indians on the reserves. It is pathetic. The government is not doing anything about it. When the Liberals have the opportunity, they reject it. They vote against those rights.
Now we are going to give them another chance. Collectively, my good friends from Lethbridge and Calgary and I are working together on this. We want this bill passed for the sake of the parents who are struggling with their kids and trying to save them from these very situations that they need not be in. We can do it.
But what about our Prime Minister? This is so good that I just have to reiterate it. Our Prime Minister was on TV a minute ago saying that a right is a right is a right. He was asked the following question on the Roy Green show: “Why doesn't your government support raising the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16?” Here is his answer. I am going to read it again for members. It is worth quoting. He said:
Well, this is an...this is an issue that...that, you know, that...that Parliament is in the process of debating. These are...these are very important social issues, and I think that what we've got to do is allow the debate to allow it to unfold. One of the...one of the ways in which the changes I wanted to bring Parliament is to give parliamentary committees the ability to go out, to reach out and discuss all of these issues. And again, the whole question of the parliamentary...you know, the democratic deficit, is something that the House leader is working so hard on.
I listened to that along with many people in radio land. The Roy Green show played the answer and held a quiz for all the people listening. If they could guess what the question was, they would win a big prize. Nobody could guess. That was from the Prime Minister who said that a right is a right is a right and that the Liberals are the defenders of rights. That was his answer about raising the age of consent. If people do not believe it they can get the tape and listen to it and really get a shock.
That is not the way we deal with the problems of our nation.
Parents have gone to the police to say their 14 year old daughter is living with a 36 year old man, that she gave consent and she will not leave. The father went into the house to remove his daughter but was charged with trespassing. He was interfering with the law. He was infringing on the rights of the old man who was living with his 14 year old daughter. He was arrested, charged and convicted. Thanks, Liberal government, that is what has been given to us.
If people have not guessed by now, this is a desperation speech, because we have given this speech over and over again and the Liberal government, over and over again, refuses to do anything about it.
This private member's bill gives the government the opportunity to raise that age of consent. This would help parents who desperately want to meet their responsibilities, instead of being arrested, going to jail and charged with trying to do what is right for their child.
I say shame on members forever if they do not support the bill. If they are so interested in rights now is the time to do something about it and fix it.