The statistics are staggering, with teen pregnancies doubling in the last 10 years alone. One-fifth of girls under the age of 20 become pregnant and 58 per cent give birth. One-third of these girls drop out of high school and the children of these mothers often have higher educational and social problems. The future is often quite bleak for the mothers and children who often live a life of poverty, and yet this is an avoidable tragedy. To stem the tide schools need effective sex education programs, and sexual active teens need safe, effective measures of birth control.
Prevention is the best medicine.
I implore the Minister of Health to work with his provincial counterparts to develop intelligent, safe strategies to address this terrible tragedy among us. Mr. Speaker, in the matter of copyright reform, I would encourage the Minister of Canadian Heritage to ensure that broadcasters will obtain justly and permanently the time-shifting and ephemeral recording rights they are after. It is essential these rights be included in Bill C-32 to avoid unduly complicating the operations of small regional radio stations on a small budget. This is often the only way to provide good service to their evening and weekend listeners. Furthermore, time-shifting rights do not deprive artists of their royalties, and broadcasters are prepared to accept measures to protect against the abuse of these rights.