Madam Speaker, I am grateful the hon. member brought this very sensitive and serious subject to the House of Commons where it should be.
Whether we agree with the bill or disagree with the it does not matter. The hon. member is absolutely correct that this is a serious Canadian and worldwide problem, and she has every right to bring it to the forefront to explain to us her motivations, her experiences and how we can move forward in order to tackle the problem that is before us.
It is obvious to some that the intent of the bill is to add mandatory minimum sentences, strong deterrents and penalties for those who commit this heinous act.
I wish to go into some personal stories of my upbringing in my family
. When we came to Canada, one of the things my parents did in Richmond, B.C. and in Burnaby, as part of the Christian Reformed Church, was run a group home. In over 20 years, my parents had 300 to 400 children come through our doors. Some came for a few hours in the middle of the night, some stayed for a weekend, some stayed for months and some stayed for a couple of years.
I will share the experience of one young lady who was 12 years old and who was in a house fire in British Columbia. She was severely burned from the waist down and could never have children. For whatever reasons, her parents abandoned her to the British Columbia government.
She ended up in our group home. When she turned 16, my mother suggested she send her mother a Mother's Day card to see if she could rekindle whatever there was. My mother always believed that a mother could never totally abandon her child.
This girl made a beautiful hand-made Mother's Day card and mailed it to her mother. It came back a month later. She opened up the envelope and inside was the card she had made, ripped up in a 100 pieces, and a note saying, “Don't ever try to contact me again”.
The problem is a lot of these children do not have love in their lives. They have been abandoned by the state, by their families and by brothers and sisters. They are easily exploited by the first person who comes along and tells them their life can improve, that they will receive this or receive that.
The movie Slumdog Millionaire was a fabulous movie. It showed how these children were easily exploited by the first kind person to give them a bottle of Coke on a hot day, or give them a nice meal and a place to stay. How quickly they were exploited. That happened in India, but this kind of activity happens around the world.
I have had a private member's bill for years, by my former colleague, Chris Axworthy, a long-time member of Parliament and former Attorney General of Saskatchewan, on child Internet pornography. I have asked the Conservative government, and I asked the previous government, to take the bill and run with it in order to stop the effects of the Internet on vulnerable children. They are easily exploited. They can meet at a ballpark, or a school or somewhere else. The next thing we know, they are in the clutches of these pedophiles and exploiters of children.
I appreciate the fact that the member for Kildonan—St. Paul came to my office. We had a very heart to heart discussion on this issue. I pledged her my personal support for the bill.
Now there are concerns with the bill, and she is aware of this, such as, is it absolutely fundamental that judges have that power taken away when we put in mandatory minimums? Is that the most effective way?
The bill should go to committee to have that frank and thorough discussion, to get it out in the open. Bring in the experts from the legal side, from the child services side and others so we can have that concrete debate.
If the way to go is mandatory minimums, that means additional costs for correctional services. I would hope the government would back up the legislation, if it goes through, with the financial resources to the provinces, et cetera, so they could have the funds in order to carry out the intent of the bill.
There is a deeper-rooted problem, and I believe the hon. member from Quebec mentioned this. It is a societal problem. There is more to this than just the end. We have to get at the roots and the beginning of what happens.
Are we ever going to root out pedophilia in the country or exploitation of children completely? No. Can we reduce it greatly? Absolutely. Members of Parliament and Senators are here for that.
The first priority of government and the opposition is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens, not just in terms of military and policing but also, most important, that they have shelter, a good job, the ability to drink the water in their community, good food to eat, entertainment and freedom and security in their lives for themselves and their families. Regardless of whether they live on an aboriginal reserve or if they live in a small community, of if French or English or if they live in our larger urban centres, it does not matter. From coast to coast to coast citizens should be allowed to be free, to express their opinions and to live their lives in a normal democratic way, or what we call a social democratic way.
For many families that just is not the case. Usually what happens is when parents or the communities have difficulties, the children end up suffering. Children will very easily turn to the first kind face or the first warm person who pays them any kind of attention. We all know how it works. These people work with them in kindness and end up exploiting them in the end. It is society that has to deal with it at the end.
I would encourage the hon. member, and I am sure she would be more than welcome to do this, to also open up the discussion to get at the root problem of why children are so acceptable to this. What expertise do these mostly men, but there are women who do it as well, have to exploit these vulnerable children? What is the role of the family and the provinces and everyone else?
I honestly believe we have the capability to understand this issue. We have the capability to move this issue forward. The end goal is not necessarily incarceration of the criminal. That will happen one way or the other. The main goal is to ensure that we get at the root of this problem, to understand this issue and to see what we can do in education in our schools, our churches, our mosques and our synagogues, working with the provinces and aboriginal groups and all sectors of society so they have a clear understanding of the dangers out there.
I am one of Canada's biggest supporters by saying this is one hell of a country. It is a great country. However, there are many faults within our society where the most vulnerable are either left alone, abandoned or exploited for a variety of reasons.
That is why I rose to speak to this. Not only did my parents want to thank the Canadian people for their liberation, but they also wanted to serve their community in the Lower Mainland. That is why they ran their group home.
I know my fellow Dutch colleague over there knows of other Dutch families in the Lower Mainland that did the exact same thing as did many other families across the country. They did that because they loved those children. They had nine of their own and they had hundreds more come through the door.
The common thread through all of them was the lack of love in their lives. Anyone can listen to George Chuvalo, the great heavyweight champion of Canada who lost three children and his wife in various circumstances. He goes around to schools and across the country and he says one thing: love. If we love one another and care for one another, regardless of our differences, then we will not be so easily tempted by the experts out there in terms of exploitation or whatever it is.
Sri Chinmoy once wrote, “World peace can be achieved when the love of power is replaced by the power of love”. I like that saying. I have it at home and I understand it. This is at the root of what the hon. member is trying to do.
I welcome sending the bill to committee to have that thorough analysis. My hon. colleague from the Bloc had questions and I am sure others will as well. There are concerns, but this is the type of debate that we should have in the country. At the end of the day, whenever it happens, if we can protect one child, then it would be a good thing to do.