Mr. Speaker, it is about time the justice minister did the right thing and raised the legal age of sexual consent. Fourteen year old children are too young to drive. They are too young to consume alcohol, smoke or even vote. Yet the justice minister irresponsibly agrees to not change the laws that allow our 14 year olds to consent to sexual relations.
The sexual exploitation of our nation's children by adults should one of the government's top priorities. At the very least, the minister should increase the legal age of consent to 16. This would in part help protect our children from sexual exploitation.
A 1999 department of justice paper states that the present age of consent is too low to provide effective protection for children from sexual exploitation by adults. Additionally, last year both the provincial justice ministers and the Canadian Police Association passed resolutions calling on the federal government to raise the age of consent for sexual activity to at least 16 years of age.
Where is the justice minister on this issue?