Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk to my colleague about the content of the bill.
He knows that a number of witnesses spoke to the bill. For example, Ms. Yao-Yao Go of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic said:
The bill seeks to deport people who are engaged in polygamy, and that would include the very women that the government claims it's trying to protect.
Ms. Mattoo of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario said:
We stand for victims and survivors of gender-based violence, whose voices have told us, time and time again, that they would not come forward if it meant criminal sanctions or deportation of their families.
The bill could hurt and further ostracize women and victims of forced or polygamous marriages. What does my colleague have to say about such statements? Does he not worry that by supporting Bill S-7, he is promoting the victimization of women?