Mr. Speaker, I want to speak today on a subject that often goes unnoticed but deserves to be addressed immediately, and that is child marriage. It is estimated that each year 15 million girls around the world are married before the age of 18. In September 2013, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario released a report that counted 219 confirmed or suspected cases of forced marriage in Ontario and Quebec from 2010 to 2011. These problems are not far away, but very close to home. Marriage laws vary among provinces and territories, with the legal age of marriage generally set at 18. However, in many provinces, a person with consent from both parents can be married at age 16 or 17. We are one of those jurisdictions, Mr. Speaker, and that needs to change.

In 2017, this government updated the Marriage Act. Prior to the update, a minor actually could be married under the age of 15 in the Northwest Territories, as long as they got a special dispensation from the Minister of Health and Social Services, which would only be handed out if the female party was pregnant. Also, according to the prior version of the act, consent was not necessary from the minor, only from the parents. To say this version of the act was in major need of an update would be putting it lightly, Mr. Speaker.

Sadly, though, after reviewing the updated version of the act, there's still a section of the legislation specifically there to allow minors to marry: section 16. This section stipulates that minors can be married under the age of majority, as long as they have personally consented, their parents or guardians have consented, and they have proper documentation, like a birth certificate or statutory declaration, to prove their age. I must state that I am confounded as to why the department felt we still need to have section 16 of the Marriage Act as part of the updated 2017 version.

You cannot vote until you are 18, you cannot buy alcohol until 19, and, generally, you cannot sign a legally binding contract until you're 19, as well, but you can enter into a marriage at 16 in the Northwest Territories. This seems a very antiquated part of the act that really needs to change.

Mr. Speaker, it's 2018, and child marriages should be relegated as a distant memory of our past. Governments have a responsibility to ensure safety and security of minors, and to have updated our act so recently and not removed Section 16 was, at the very least, an unfortunate occurrence that could cost a minor dearly in the future. I urge the government to remove Section 16 of the Marriage Act entirely, and I'll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services later on today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Masi. Member's statements. Member for Sahtu.