Clause 2 of the bill is amending the provision that we commonly refer to as the “child sex tourism provision” in the Criminal Code. This provision provides Canadian authorities with extraterritorial jurisdiction to assume an investigation and prosecution of a Canadian citizen or resident who travels abroad and commits one of the enumerated offences that, if it had been committed in Canada, could have resulted in the person's being charged and prosecuted here. That law has been in place since 1997.
Bill C-54 is adding the new offences to the provision. We're adding the two new offences being proposed by Bill C-54 as well as doing some other housekeeping, because with Bill C-54 we're trying to ensure consistency across the board. The provision would also be broadened to add the section 171 offence of “Householder permitting sexual activity” as well as the “Luring a child” offence, which is currently a Criminal Code offence but is not listed in the section before you, as well as the two new offences.
With this, the intention would be that if a Canadian goes abroad and commits one of these four offences that are not now listed, it is possible to have a Canadian prosecution. It is always subject to whether the Canadian is charged and prosecuted for that offence abroad; if not, a Canadian court could assume the jurisdiction.