Mr. Speaker, for me, personally, this legislation is important. It is the sexual assault aspect of the legislation that I believe makes it so very important, and one of the reasons why this government needs to move forward with it as soon as possible. I suspect that's the reason why most individuals are getting onside supporting that aspect of the legislation.
What it does, at least in part, is to amend section 273(1) to clarify that an unconscious person is incapable of consenting, which reflects the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. J.A., 2011. It amends section 273.2 to clarify the defence of mistaken belief and that consent is not available if the mistake is based on the mistake of law, for example, if the accused believed that the complainant's failure to resist or protest meant that the complainant consented. This will codify aspects of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Ewanchuk back in 1999.
More specifically, in terms of the importance of our shelters, I think that if the member was to look at the national housing strategy which is, from my perspective, a historical document that the minister of housing has done an incredible job on, he will find that there are significant amounts of money being allocated to ensure that we continue to support an area in which there is a need.
It is also important that we work with provincial entities. In my area it is Osborne House, which does a fantastic job at meeting many of the needs of women and others in our community who unfortunately have had to endure sexual assault and many other harms.