Thank you all for having me here this morning. My name is Sheldon Kennedy. I'm the co-founder of Respect Group Inc. We're a prevention organization that educates all adults across this country--over 500,000 annually--on abuse, bullying, and harassment.
I'm here today to speak in support of Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, specifically, part 2, proposed paragraph 11(a), which calls to increase or impose mandatory minimum penalties and increase maximum penalties for sexual offences with respect to children, thereby offering greater protection to Canada's most vulnerable.
When I finally filed a report of sexual assault against my junior coach in 1997, as an adult and professional hockey player, there were people in the media and hockey in the town where it happened who didn't believe me. On top of having to battle with the fear and shame that sexual abuse brings, I had to deal with disbelievers.
Children who are victimized spend years trying to explain what happened to them and working to restore their emotional well-being. Offenders, in my opinion, serve an inadequate amount of time, in some cases, none, paying for these atrocities. Believe it or not, current sentencing laws for someone convicted of sexual assault against a child under 16 carries no minimum mandatory penalty. This needs to change.
Currently, child sex offenders are also eligible for pardons. My abuser got three and a half years for his crimes and was released after only 18 months. He paid $50 and got a rubber stamp pardon, took off to Mexico with a clean record, name changed, and had a chance to start offending yet again. Now he is out on bail facing the same charges. That is what this government is trying to prevent.
Is there a parent in this country who would have an issue with protecting their children from this predator and others like him? Pardons should be eliminated for all child sex offenders, period.
Child victims of sexual assault often struggle with emotional issues, alcohol, drug dependency, and suicide. They have to seek out their own specific forms of rehabilitation. In my case, it's been a 30-year struggle. I lost a lucrative professional hockey career. I've been in countless treatment centres. I lived a reckless lifestyle with significant cost to me, my friends, family, and my marriage. I'm still receiving counselling on a regular basis and it has taken all this time to become a productive member of society.
I believe we need to toughen sentencing for child sex offences. They just don't seem in line with the damage they leave in their wake, not even close. The proposed legislation for my perpetrator would go from a 90-day minimum sentence to one year. The ceiling of a maximum sentence would remain at 10 years. By imposing increased minimum sentences, we are telling these predators that they will go to jail. MMPs and maximums will provide direction to the courts and serve as an equal starting point.
Research shows that the rehabilitation rate for pedophiles is very low, if they can be rehabilitated at all. Why then would we not do everything we can to keep them off the streets for as long as we can? They're a serious threat to our children. They belong in jail for their heinous crimes.
We constantly tell our children and their caregivers to come forward to tell someone. They need to know that the courage it takes to tell someone and report this will result in consistent convictions that will stick and that justice will be served.
To me, the fundamental reason for change to these laws is simple: we can't let these perpetrators walk freely among our youth organizations, our schools, our neighbourhoods, and our workplaces. Children need to feel safe, and parents have to trust that the government is playing a role in protecting them. Criminals need to be held accountable and be dealt with consistently with clearly defined consequences. In my mind, child protection is paramount.
In closing, I want to thank this government for standing up for victims and finally taking action. It's about time someone gets tough on criminals.
Thank you.