Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate hearing from the member on a range of issues and certainly on the most relevant one to his community. The information he provided not only about the implications on the 2010 winter Olympics but more generally with regard to the serious problem of trafficking of human beings was helpful to all Canadians.
I have read a number of reports on this issue. Meetings have been held in Brussels and other countries in Europe. The United States is a leader in terms of advocacy in addressing the serious problem of human trafficking.
I want to ask the member about the consequences. The committee report specifically has to do with the 2010 Olympics. Earlier in debate, a reference was made by the member for Winnipeg North that the Vancouver area had been designated a sex destination. That is a pre-existing condition, apparently. This means the trafficking of persons into the Olympic geography is probably going to exacerbate and feed the situation.
Could the member inform the House about the pre-existing conditions, which I suspect are really being served by the formal prostitution trade and not so much the human trafficking issue? We are talking leading off to 2010.
If Vancouver has a bad situation already, it will be exacerbated when the Olympics start. However, it will not deal with the root causes. The fact is the problems with regard to prostitution, or drugs or any other social ills will not be fixed by a bandage. There are more systemic issues to be addressed.
Would the member care to comment on whether it should be the federal government that should be taking the lead with regard to the Olympics or should the Olympics committee and its security organization coordinate the efforts of all levels of government and NGOs?