Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: I rise today to commend my guests from Quebec, Pierre Beauregard and Azfar Adib, for their dedication.

Mr. Adib is a PhD candidate in computer engineering at Concordia University. His research focuses on online age‑verification technology in order to ensure both the right to privacy and the safety of users, particularly children.

As for Pierre Beauregard, he’s the person who’s been the most involved in my efforts to advance Bill S-210, which seeks to protect children from exposure to pornography. The trials he has faced in his own life are what made him realize how great a risk these free, easily accessible platforms pose to children.

In 2017, well before I met him, Mr. Beauregard presented a petition to the Quebec National Assembly calling on the Government of Quebec to impose age verification. He has made more and more contacts around the world during the course of his research and activities.

For the past three years, he’s been writing me to keep me informed of all of the developments in the area. In my past career, we would have described Mr. Beauregard as a great source. Today, he’s a valuable ally. Thank you, Pierre. The support of citizens, parents and health professionals has been invaluable to me.

As Bill S-210 begins its journey through the House of Commons, there has been a lot of good news.

In Germany, the courts recently ruled in favour of the government and against MindGeek, the owner of Pornhub, to force it to comply with German law, which requires age verification for all users in that country. The fact that MindGeek houses its servers in Cyprus doesn’t mean it can sidestep German law, which aims to protect its children from serious danger.

In the United Kingdom, a sweeping online safety bill, which mandates age verification for access to pornography and other harmful content, will be passed by July.

In the United States, Louisiana recently became the first state to mandate age verification for online pornography. An additional 26 states, including California, New York and Massachusetts, have passed or are considering passing laws to control minors’ access to harmful online content.

The fight is not over, however. In our country and elsewhere, some people continue to resist and oppose common-sense rules whose drawbacks are minor compared to the importance of the objectives pursued.

Finding the right balance isn’t easy. We need to protect minors, but also protect people’s privacy. We need to protect the innocence of our children, but allow what is legal. We need to regulate pornographic content, but promote modern sex education.

In my view, these challenges are no reason to give up.

Thank you.