Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the member's comments and concerns and have a specific question for the member. I raised it earlier in the day.
In Saskatchewan a few years ago, three young individuals in their twenties picked up a 12 year old girl and gave her some beer and so on. The evidence showed that some pretty serious sexual exploitation took place in respect to the 12 year old girl. Two of the accused had a trial before a jury. They had a very good defence lawyer. The defence lawyer's main argument was that the relationship was consensual. Second, the lawyer argued that the girl looked like she could be 14 or even older.
Let us guess what happened when the jury came in after hearing that pitch. Reasonable doubt is all we have to raise if we are defending an accused person. The jury acquitted those two individuals of the charge. It was a horrendous, scary situation.
My point here is that if we cannot find any reason to support the bill, that particular situation shows the need for this sort of legislation. That 12 year old girl should have had the protection of the law on her side. She should have had the protection of every single member of Parliament in the House of Commons on her side, to make sure that our laws are there to protect the victim, not to give loopholes to defence lawyers and allow adults to prey on and exploit our young people.
Fortunately, the Court of Appeal in Saskatchewan reversed that decision, which was very commendable, but I find it very upsetting that at a trial before a jury, because of the way we have framed our laws, we leave people like this girl open to a lack of protection such that it is open season on young people for adults who want to prey on them.
Could the member please express his comments about the need to make sure that our laws are strong and can protect a 12 year old girl from a gang of youths in their twenties seriously exploiting and abusing her? Could he comment on the fact that we have a really strong need to move in that area?