Justice committee  I think the government is putting forward a bill that deals with the age of consent for sex. In section 159 of the Criminal Code, it says the age of consent for anal intercourse is 18. If you're going to bring forward a bill that deals with the age of protection, as you call it,

Justice committee  But why? I don't understand why.

Justice committee  I'm frustrated that this is only coming up at the very end and that we're rushing to finish this. This is an amendment that many of us have called for and suddenly we're hearing, oh, it's outside the scope of the bill, but we can't really explain why. I feel very strongly that

Justice committee  The first presenter talked about 14- and 15-year-olds being hormonal, and we heard from Mr. Lee about 14- and 15-year-olds being sexual aggressors in certain situations. I would like to reiterate that we know it is a fact that 14- and 15-year-olds are consenting to sex and lookin

Justice committee  Yes. I want to reiterate that Canada has very strong laws against sexual exploitation, against child prostitution, against child pornography, and against Internet luring. All the activities you're describing are very much against the law. You asked about having an age of consent

Justice committee  I just want to add that Egale Canada has never actively sought a reduction in the age of consent. I suppose our presence here is somewhat reactionary. We don't want the age of consent to be raised, and that is what this bill intends to do. We are here to say that we do not want t

Justice committee  Not that I know of.

Justice committee  Yes, exactly.

Justice committee  There is the legal issues committee, which has as its members lawyers and law professors and other legal professionals across Canada. They make recommendations to the board, and then the 12-member national board makes decisions on behalf of the membership of Egale. Working as th

Justice committee  That's a good question, and thanks very much for asking it. Egale has several thousand members across Canada, people who donate their time and money to the organization. As I said in the presentation, we have members in every province and territory. Egale is a non-profit, polit

Justice committee  That's okay. I could just introduce myself and spare you.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  Good morning, everyone. My name is Kaj Hasselriis, and I'm the executive director of Egale Canada. Egale Canada is the national organization that advances equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people and their families all across Canada. Egale was