Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Senator Gold, a year ago, during the study of Bill C-11, you said this about my age verification amendment:

. . . The Government of Canada is looking to introduce legislation to address potential online harms with the goal of keeping all Canadians safe online, including being safe from the kind of harm that this amendment would propose. In the government’s view, this would be the most appropriate forum, in the context of that legislation, to discuss this important issue. . . .

In other words, the government said, “We’ll take care of the issue in our online safety bill.”

Today, the government finally introduced its long-awaited bill, and there’s no age verification to prevent children from accessing online porn. So my question is this: What happened to that clear commitment?

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Senator Gold, according to a disturbing investigative report published in La Presse this weekend, 45% of the videos on Montreal-based Pornhub contain depictions of assault, choking or gagging, and 97% of the targets of these acts are women. The reporter interviewed a young man who became addicted to pornography at the age of eight and another whose sexual behaviour was impacted by his consumption of pornography in which girls were being beaten.

Senator Gold, why isn’t the government publicly supporting my Bill S-210, An Act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material? This bill, now before the House of Commons, would require age verification.

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Would Senator Gold agree to take a question?