Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I would like to thank my colleague. I am very proud to represent the riding of Lévis—Bellechasse and Les Etchemins. My colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue must be jealous, because it is one of the most beautiful ridings in Canada. That is why we have a legislative agenda on legal issues that is constructive and progressive. I would also like to thank the member for the kind words he had for the Conservatives and the previous Conservative government. I am proud to be part of it.
That said, I am sorry my colleague has taken an ideological approach to the bill that is before us today. I expected, given that he really is such a great advocate, as we must acknowledge, that he would take a more pragmatic approach.
The 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games are on the horizon. We have street gangs. Unfortunately, we have them in all our communities, and these people manipulate young people, particularly young women. We see sexual exploitation, unspeakable and unacceptable things. We cannot close our eyes to these situations.
I call on my colleague to answer this question: how can he abandon those victims and let the criminals back out on the street before they have served their sentences, which terrorizes the victims? I call on my colleague to state why he is taking the side of the criminals and not standing up for the victims, as our government is doing.