Evidence of meeting #28 for Justice and Human Rights in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:25 p.m.
NDP
Charmaine Borg NDP Terrebonne—Blainville, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Bernstein, my next question is for you.
In your sixth recommendation, you want the maximum length of prohibition on Internet use not to exceed one year. Can you briefly explain why you set that maximum at one year?
12:25 p.m.
Chief Policy Advisor, UNICEF Canada
We were concerned about the implications specifically for young people. There needs to be some kind of ceiling set. The language of the provisions seems to be open-ended. We were concerned, for example, in the case of young people who may be involved in educational pursuits if they can't use the Internet to access information, and do their homework or studies. There are commercial activities. There are young people with disabilities who live in remote communities. One way of staying connected is by using the Internet. There are also situations where employers ask potential employees to complete applications online. It really affects every facet of one's life, so to completely terminate the ability to access the Internet may have disproportionate implications for the life of a young person, or an adult.
I don't know if this was intended, but the way the provision reads, there seems to be the potential for a lifetime ban. No specific statutory ceiling is provided in the legislation—and in distinction to some of my colleagues, I am a Canadian lawyer.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mike Wallace
Thank you very much for your questions and answers.
The next questioner is Mr. Goguen from the Conservative party.
June 3rd, 2014 / 12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Robert Goguen Conservative Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to all the witnesses for testifying today. There's certainly a wide swath of opinions that are being shared, and that's helpful, of course, in the examination of this bill.
My question is directed to the Bully Free Alliance and the WiredSafety representatives. The Minister of Justice has indicated that protecting the children, the most vulnerable in Canada, from Internet bullying, from cyberbullying, is a multifaceted problem. It's not only the changes to the Criminal Code, of course, that will accomplish this, it's a much larger puzzle. That's why our government has invested in various, I guess, preventive measures. There are examples of this. For instance, the number of school-based projects to try to prevent bullying.
In addition, through the Get Cyber Safe campaign, the government also supports the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which operates Cybertip.ca and the Needhelpnow.ca websites, where Canadians can report online sexual exploitation of children and seek help for exploitation resulting from the sharing of sexual images.
So my question to you is, in your opinion, have these investments been useful? Which types of programs have yielded the best results? Is there any particular initiative you would like to highlight to the committee? And last, what other preventive measures do you think the government should invest in?
Don't be shy.
12:25 p.m.
Co-Founder, York Region, Bully Free Community Alliance
I'm not shy, but I'm not a lawyer, sorry.
12:25 p.m.
Co-Founder, York Region, Bully Free Community Alliance
We brought up the national strategy because we think it should go along with Bill C-13. I think it was Parry who mentioned that different provinces are doing different things.
When we first started, we just started to get involved in our own little elementary school thinking, “Well, we'll just get involved, and we'll just help stop the bullying”. We then realized—it sounds crazy from what we said—it is a culture change.
You can bring programs in. It's like planting seeds, but that's why we suggest that there be a national strategy, so that all provinces and territories are speaking the same language. You have to back it up with education and awareness, because we're just dipping our toe into the digital world. We have a long way to go.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mike Wallace
I have to stop everybody. The bells are actually ringing, I don't know why.
It is 12:30, the bells are ringing, so we are required to go to vote. It's a 30-minute bell, so we have to vote at 1 o'clock. Unless I get unanimous consent to continue, which I don't like doing from this distance, we will have to call it a day.
Thank you to our witnesses for coming. We all got on the record. We didn't get as many questions as we would have liked, but we'll be voting at one, so we won't be back in time to continue. Thank you very much for your time.
We will be continuing this process at 1 Wellington on Thursday.
The meeting is adjourned.