Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.
I don't want to see people getting hurt just because they can have sex...and I've seen it happen already...I do think the government should raise the age of consent to 16...I know that 14 is too young for someone to make wise decisions about sex...It ruins lives because of people's immaturity.
This was Paul, from Roblin, Manitoba.
Megan, from Lions Head, Ontario, said: I am fifteen years old...and although I'd like to think...I am able to choose an appropriate sexual partner or resist someone who's pressuring me to have sex, I'm not...sure that I could...I would not want to live with those effects when I'm older and recognize the mistakes I made, or, was forced to make. Thanks for trying to pass this bill.... Good luck!
Others in the survey pointed out that at 14 we don't let youth vote, drive, buy cigarettes, drink, or join the army. If they can't do this, then what makes us think they can exercise judgment regarding sexual activity at a stage of life when they're hormonally charged? One survey pointed out that at 14 a child's frontal lobe, which is the area they need for reasoning, hasn't even developed. Another pointed out that many youth are not even educated regarding STDs at this stage.
Now, let me share my personal two cents. For almost 10 years I was a humanitarian worker on the streets of Vancouver. Nightly I walked the streets looking for young men and women who were tripping out, ones who needed food, shelter, a hug, or an ear. Every night I would see skinny young boys or girls on street corners selling their bodies to men who could care less about them and who saw them as nothing more than a three- to ten-minute thrill for $20.
I soon discovered that many of these young ones were between the ages of 14 and 16 and that they were targeted because of their age. At age 14, with a little bit of manipulation they could be coerced into consenting to have sex with adults. Because they were still under the youth offenders act, basically nothing would happen if they were caught. This is a sweet package for a pimp. What kind of Canada would allow this to happen to our sons and daughters?
I have received desperate e-mails from parents who were looking to find their children who were being exploited in the sex trade. We could do nothing to rescue youth who were 14 or older, unless they came to us. Yet the reality is that many of them felt trapped, because pimps threatened to kill them or hurt them or their family members. They said whatever they could to control them into staying. In the book Children in the Game, one pimp said, “There ain't no rules, that's why I win”.
The UN convention on children's rights defines a child as anyone under the age of 18. It also states that when children's rights conflict with adults' rights we must allow the children's rights to override.
Members, based on the UN definition, this is currently the bottom line: Canada is blatantly endorsing adult sex with children, and this must stop. We find it perplexing that in Canada it's legal for a consenting 14-year-old to have sex with a 50-year-old, but if that same 50-year-old pulls out his cellphone or camcorder to record the act, it's called child pornography. What kind of Canada are we building and who exactly are we protecting: pimps, predators, or children?
Here with me today is a young man named Donny. He was exploited as a minor in the sex trade. His story is chilling. At the age of 13, he was sexually assaulted by friends. Overwhelmed with shame and confusion, he soon became overtaken by a life of addiction to crack. At the age of 14, he was selling his body to men who couldn't care less about him. As a minor, he frequented bars. Owners, who were well aware that he was underage, did not remove him.
He said to me the other night, “Johns always go after the young ones--the younger, the better”. Donny was set up by a system that offered him no protection from others or even from himself. Donny will share with you the horror and the brokenness of those years and how, in looking back, he wished there had been something or someone to protect him.
Donny will be happy to answer any questions that you have about his personal experience in the question time. Please ask him. He has a story to tell.
In closing, I want to read to you a precious e-mail from an eighth grader, Laura:
I really want to contact some of the MPs to talk to them... I know I'm young but I'm really worried for my generation. I've noticed a huge change in kids' behaviour. Almost everyone in my class is watching R rated movies! I know some of the people who work at the theatre and they say kids sneak in...and they don't even care!! I know a kid who's 12 who's already gotten drunk more than once... I want the people who are running this country to know that they have a huge responsibility for all the kids that can't vote! ... They need to be a role model for kids 13 and up because we hear a lot about elections..
We have ears so we listen. We have eyes so we see. We have mouths so shouldn't we speak?
Though we may be too young to vote, and we don't have the responsibility to make huge decisions like what bills to pass...grown ups need to listen to us...and if the MPs need to know what the kids need most why not ask one?
...we each know more about OUR needs then ANY grown up, hands down.
I was...abused and my parents didn't know until we moved now I talk to the kid who did it to me and I found out they learned that behaviour from their parents. ... How are they any more responsible then their children?
If that is what some parents teach their children shouldn't there be someone [else] to teach that child write from wrong so those kids don't grow up and teach their children to be abusive?
The MPs CAN'T vote because their party says yes or no. They need to vote for the right things...Every child born and too young to vote has to trust their MP to make the right decisions for them. If our role models and MPs cannot make the right decisions for the right reasons, how will we?
Members of Parliament, I ask you, what message is allowing adult sex with children sending to young ones like Laura?
It's time to pass legislation that reflects community standards. And may I remind you that 90% of those surveyed said they believed the age of 14 was too low. Those in favour of keeping the age of protection at 14 or lowering the age of consent in any form, be it heterosexual or anal sex, are interested only in their own selfish personal or political gain, and are not looking out for the interests of the most vulnerable in society: children and youth. Such perspectives should be seen as dangerous, selfish, and harmful.
Last week an MP said to me that the role of government is to protect its citizens. On behalf of the multiple thousands we represent in our network, we want to say we agree and we encourage members from every party to do whatever they can to support this bill and see protection come to the children and youth of our nation. It's long overdue; ask Donny.