UNITED MOTHERS, FATHERS & FRIENDS
NEWSLETTER
October 14, 2006
Bill C-22 Raise the Age of Consent
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???We have these s_x* tourism laws for Cambodia and Thailand??? when, in fact, we???re becoming a s_x* tourism destination for Americans because of our low age-of-consent laws.???- Vic Toews -
* NOTE: Certain terms have been altered ???_??? to avoid filter issues.
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Great news! This fall Parliament has an opportunity to address child exploitation by passing Bill C-22. This would raise the age of consent from 14 to 16. We need you to speak out in support of this critical child protection bill.
WRITE A LETTER - To send off your 1 click letter, go to
http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/index.php?affid=216 (More information regarding Bill C-22 below.)
All it takes is 5 minutes to make a difference!
I) Details of Bill C-22II) Liberal Bill C-2: Problematic Child Protection BillIII) Consequences of Canada???s Low Age of Consent LawIV) Top 10 Reasons for Raising the Age of ConsentV) How Does Canada Compare to Other Nations? VI) How did MPs Vote on the Previous Age of Consent Bill? VII) Take Action: 1 Click Letter
Dear friend of the Family,
Since 1987, when the Mulroney government reduced the age of consent to 14, many children???s advocacy groups, law enforcement agencies, and provincial justice minister???s have spoken about the need for Canada to raise the age of consent to protect children.
Parliament has failed to do so. In fact, when Conservative MP Art Hanger (the new Justice Committee Chairman) tried on three different occasions over the last dozen years to raise the age of consent, his private member???s bills were voted down with the help of Liberal Justice Ministers who vehemently opposed raising it.
On June 22, 2006, Justice Minister Vic Toews introduced government Bill C-22.
Full text of Bill C-22 available here:http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?pub=bill&doc=C-22&parl=39&ses=1&language=E
I) Details of Bill C-22
It has been dubbed the ???Age of Protection??? bill because its goal is to protect young people from adult predators by raising the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age. It includes a close in age exemption of two years for 12 & 13 years olds, and five years for 14 & 15 year olds. Thus, it will not criminalize consenting s_xual conduct between youth who are close in age.
II) Liberal Bill C-2: Problematic Child Protection Bill
The previous government attempted to address child protection issues by signing into law, on July 21, 2005, Child Protection Bill C-2. (http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/chambus/house/bills/government/C-2/C-2_3/C-2_cover-E.html)
While the bill introduced some improvements to Canada???s child protection legislation it failed to raise the age of consent to 16. Instead, in an attempt to address exploitation it introduced a new category of ???exploitive relationships??? aimed at protecting 14 to 18 year olds. Unfortunately, this new category requires judges to apply a complicated test that evaluates the s_xual relationship between a child as young as 14 and an adult. The test considers such criteria as the age difference between the accused and the young person, and the degree of control by the adult over the young person. Such a provision is too complex and cumbersome to allow for an effective prosecution.
III) Consequences of Canada???s Low Age of Consent Law
1) Canada has become a child s_x tourism destination.
In 2005, A 31 year old Texan man lured a 14-year old Ottawa boy to a hotel for s_x. Had the alleged incident occurred in Texas, where the age of consent is 17, this man might have been charged with s_xually abusing a child which carries a jail sentence of five to ninety-nine years. Because the incident occurred in Canada no s_xual assault charges were laid. Rather he was charged with using a computer to lure a child under age 16, child abduction, and possession of child p_rnography (He had 288 pictures and movies of child p_rnography on his computer). In Canada abduction carries a maximum sentence of 5 years.http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Vzjg-uH4cH0J:www.oacas.org/whatsnew/newsstories/05/mar/8ott.pdf+%22Dale+Eric+Beckham%22+%22Ottawa%22&hl=en
2) Cross border internet-luring is on the rise.
A 38 year old Pennsylvanian, crossed the border into Canada for a ???date??? with a 14 year old Moncton area girl whom he had met on the Internet. He was arrested after being caught at a motel with the girl. However, after being held in jail over the weekend, he was released and the assault and child luring charges were dropped. Why? She was 14 years old. The age of consent in Canada.http://www.iwar.org.uk/pipermail/infocon/2004-April/001291.html
University of Ottawa criminology professor Wade Deisman observes that incidents of cross-border internet-luring seem to be on the rise, and suggests that Canada???s relatively low age of consent could have something to do with it.??? http://www.c-a-s-e.net/Age%20of%20Consent%20Facts%20in%20Canada%20by%20Beyond%20Borders.htm
3) Canada is internationally renowned for being a safe haven for ped_philes:
International Child Protection agency ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking) has referred to Canada as ???a haven for s_xual predators of children.???
A 40 year-old Fort Saskatchewan Man had s_x with a 14 year old mentally handicapped girl. He was acquitted of s_xual assault charges by Court of Queen???s Bench Justice Philip Clarke because the judge was not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the girl had not given her consent to having s_x three times with the accused. (http://www.630ched.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428545912&rem=4859&red=80154523aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm)
A Vancouver teacher was reinstated after successfully appealing her lifetime ban from teaching in the province for having s_x with a 14 year old male student when she was 26. The court ruled that because her partner had ceased to be her student before their intimate relations began, she had not violated the student-teacher trust relationship. (National Post June 17, 2006, ???S_xualizing the Classroom???)
IV) Top 10 Reasons for Raising the Age of Consent
#1 It will protect children, prevent abuse, and stop cross-border shopping. By sending a clear message to predators in Canada, and abroad, that children under age 16 are off limits, there will be a reduction in the number of abused children and foreigners will no longer be able to take advantage of our low age of consent.
#2 Raising Canada???s age of consent will protect Vulnerable Youth. ???Statistics from Cybertip.ca and elsewhere show that between the ages of 13-15 youth are at highest risk to being manipulated in s_xual relationships. They are in a transitional stage of life, ???often taking risk with a sense of invincibility at the same time as they are looking for relationships.??? Police officials observe that the average age for victims of s_x crimes across the country is 14.???http://www.c-a-s-e.net/Age%20of%20Consent%20Facts%20in%20Canada%20by%20Beyond%20Borders.htm
#3 Current laws are unclear and make it very difficult to prosecute. It is important for Canada???s laws to be clear and predictable. Unfortunately, under this new system a person technically won???t know he is breaking the law until he is arrested and a judge decides that he has in fact ???exploited??? a child. As MP Vic Toews said in reference to the new category of exploitive relationships, ???That???s an absolute nightmare to try and prosecute. Many children of that age don???t even feel they???re being exploited. They feel that they???re in love.???
#4 It will prevent the further victimization of children by the court system.The drafters of Bill C-2 specifically chose to include provisions designed to protect children from further victimization by the courts. To their credit, they included provisions that prevent victims from having to confront their attackers in the courtroom and permit the use of closed circuit TV. These are tremendous strides in ensuring that those who have already been victimized will not be victimized a second time by the justice system. The great irony is that the creation of the ???exploitive relationships??? category will result in punishing cross examination of victims by defence attorneys as they attempt to shift responsibility for the relationship onto the shoulders of the victims.
#5 Raising the age of consent would help prevent the commercial exploitation of children. ???Professional pimps often prey on na??ve and disadvantaged youth, posing as boyfriends in order to recruit them into commercial exploitation. These pimps often choose to recruit youth who are over the age of consent but as young as possible in order to most easily manipulate them.???http://www.c-a-s-e.net/Age%20of%20Consent%20Facts%20in%20Canada%20by%20Beyond%20Borders.htm
#6 It Would Protect 12 & 13 Year Olds from Abuse. Did you know that the Criminal Code excuses adults who have s_xual relations with children as young as 12 years of age as long as the adult involved was under the impression that the minor was at least 14 years of age, their relations were consensual, and there was no abuse of position of authority of trust?
Bill C-22 contains a clause that would close this loophole. This type of defence would no longer be valid unless the defendant could demonstrate that he took all ???reasonable steps to ascertain the age of the complainant.???
In 2001 three white males in their 20???s picked up a 12 year old aboriginal girl outside a bar in Saskatchewan. The three men claimed the girl told them she was 14 and that they believed her. All three unsuccessfully attempted int_rcourse with the girl. Only one of them was found guilty of s_xual assault and sentenced to house arrest rather than jail because the victim may have been seen as a ???willing participant or ???the aggressor??? according to the judge. The other two were acquitted; however, that ruling has been appealed and the two are awaiting retrial.
#7 It Would Permit Law Enforcement to Crack Down on Child P_rnography.
Although the Criminal code states that you must be 18 to consent to explicit photographs being taken, the Sharpe Supreme Court ruling in January 2001 stated in essence that it was okay to take pictures of legal s_xual activities. In Canada these are defined as those of an adult with children 14 years and older. Thus, law enforcement is unable to prosecute a lot of the child p_rnography that is reported to Cybertips.ca because it involves ???consensual??? images of children 14 ??? 17 years.
#8 Raising Canada???s age of consent will empower parents. According to Commander Ross MacInnes of the Ontario Provincial Police p_rn unit, the current law prevents concerned parents, police and social service agencies from protecting or rescuing boys and girls who are coerced by older teens and adults. For example, whereas international protocol makes it possible to return a runaway 14 year old Canadian girl from the U.S. or Mexico within 12 to 24 hours, there is nothing they can do to get her back from another Canadian city because of the current age of consent law.
#9 Child Protection Organizations, The Canadian Police Association, and Provincial Justice Ministers want it raised. In 2001, Ujjal Dosanjh (then BC Attorney General, now Liberal National Defence Critic) reported that 13 out of 13 justice ministers agreed that the age of consent should be raised from 14 to 16. The Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness published its Round Table Report in November 2004 including recommendation # 4???1 ???to increase the age of general consent to 16.???
#10 John Robin Sharpe loves Bill C-2. Roz Prober, the President of Beyond Borders (ECPAT), stated, ???To the great disappointment of all law enforcement, and no doubt our provincial Justice Minister, Bill C2 has a flaw which sends a message of carry on business as usual to those with a s_xual interest in teenagers, by leaving the age of protection at 14. You cannot prevent crime or protect children with a vague arbitrary law, forcing police and judges on a case to case basis to infer what is exploitive s_xual activity with kids 14 to 18 and what is not. John Robin Sharpe loves this proposed law and on his website gives it a p_dophile thumbs up for the very same reason Beyond Borders opposes it. It does not criminalize all adult s_x with teens and it will permit aggressive, punishing cross examination of victims on consent in our ???win at all costs??? adversarial system. The result will be victories for p_dophiles in precedent setting cases.
V) How Does Canada Compare to Other Nations?
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recommends that 18 is the proper age of consent.
12 years old: Peru (girls)14 years old: Canada, Hungary, Peru (Boys)15 years old: Argentina, Denmark, France, Sweden16 years old: Australia, Bahamas, England, Finland, Germany, Indonesia (female), Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan (female), Scotland, US (federal)17 years old: State of Texas18 years old: India, Pakistan (male)19 years old: Indonesia (male)20 years old: Tunisia
VI) How did Parties & MPs Vote on the Previous Age of Consent Bill?
On September 28, 2005, Conservative MP Rick Casson tried to raise the age of consent with Bill C-313. Unfortunately, this private member???s bill was defeated by a vote of 167 ??? 99.
It is interesting to note how the parties voted! Almost all Conservative MPs supported it, except for one; close to half of the NDPs supported it; only 7 of the 100+ Liberal MPs did; and NONE of the 50+ BLOC MPs supported raising the age of consent.
To see how your incumbent MP voted previously, visit our www.FamilyVote.ca website.
VII) TAKE ACTION: 1 Click Letter
We need you to speak out in support of this critical child protection bill.
WRITE A LETTER - To send off your 1 click letter, go to: http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/index.php?affid=216
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I don't agree with that, but I do agree the age of consent is too low. The new bill is actually acknowledging the fact that teenagers will have sex with each other and that's fine, but 10-15 years age difference when they are a teen is way to much.
As for driving, drinking, smoking, those are a completly different category. They can do that even without being of legal age, so if it's put up higher it will only mean more minors doing it illegally.