Section 153 of the Criminal Code already provides a prohibition against sexual activity with a young person between the ages of 14 and 18 where there is a relationship of trust, authority, or dependency. From the last Parliament, former Bill C-2 broadened that to look at the facts and situation of each case.
In that context, the provision has been in the Criminal Code since 1988 with the reforms brought in by former Bill C-15. In that context they are looking at the nature of the relationship. An example is dependency where the other person is basically exploiting the vulnerability of the younger person for a sexual exploitation purpose. Dependency in that sense is a bit different from what we understand it to be, for example, in a family law context. But it is well understood within the criminal law context in section 153.