Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for the invitation to talk about Bill S-210. I'd be happy to answer questions in French, but I'm going to give my speech in English, because that's the language in which most of the criticism has been voiced.

To answer your question directly, let me say the following: This bill has been the subject of two studies at committee, because of the election. We have heard from 24 witnesses and there were 28 briefs. So we can say that this bill has been thoroughly studied at the Senate.

Bill S-210 seeks to apply to online porn the rules that normally apply off-line. The bill does three things. First, it requires websites that offer porn to verify the age of users before they can access that content. Second, it sets up an enforcement mechanism that can result in non-complying websites getting blocked in Canada. Third, it provides that acceptable age verification methods will be decided in regulation, to be adopted after consultation and with input from experts. The bill specifies that any approved method must be reliable, collect information solely for age verification purposes, destroy any personal information once the verification is done and comply with best practices.

Polls indicate that close to 80% of Canadians support age verification to access porn online, but Bill S-210 has been attacked, and I want to correct some misrepresentations.

It has been said that no country has done this. This is false. Germany, France, the U.K., the European Union and several U.S. states have passed laws and regulation to impose age verification to access porn. Spain is expected to launch a pilot project soon. Australia, which had paused this work, announced last week that it would move ahead.

It has been painted as a partisan or ideological bill to control sexuality. False. Age verification is supported by the socialist government of Spain and the conservative government in the U.K. In California, an age verification bill was recently approved unanimously by two legislative committees. This is not partisan legislation.

It has been called an attack on free expression. False again. Bill S-210 would not affect the availability of porn for adults; it would simply prevent children from accessing it. In Europe, porn sites have challenged age verification laws and have failed at every stage. In the U.S.—a country known for its robust speech protection—porn sites have challenged the laws and they have failed all the way to the Supreme Court.

It has been said that age verification would mean submitting personal identification to porn sites. False again. In Europe and elsewhere, age verification is typically done by third party companies using methods that transmit no personal information to porn sites. These are among the best practices we would expect in Canada as well.

It has been said that this bill would block all forms of nudity. False. The bill uses the standard definition of pornography found in the Criminal Code. The bill also provides for usual exceptions for art, science and education.

It has been said that this bill would impose age verification on all websites. False. Bill S-210 only requires age verification to access porn content. If a website contains porn and non-porn content, age verification is only required to access the porn content.

It has been said that there's no way to check someone's age without compromising privacy. False. France is developing a double anonymous method. The U.K. regulator has recommended age estimation approaches that collect no information. Australia has explained its recent decision to move ahead with age verification by saying that the technology it looked at only a year ago has already improved.

Finally, it has been said that age verification is useless because kids will find ways around it. This is once again false. Actual studies show that only a small number of children know how to evade these restrictions. It's possible that some older teenagers and adults will use VPNs to bypass age verification, but it's highly unlikely that large numbers of eight, 10 and 12-year-olds will do so.

I will be happy to take questions, but please, please, don't let Canada be the last place on earth where pornographers are more protected than children.