Mr. Speaker, Liberals and members of other parties are sitting here in the House today and it is almost as if there is supposed to be some sort of confrontation between the Liberal side of the House and the official opposition with regard to this issue. It seems to me there is not a person in Canada who deliberately wants to hurt people, especially children. Maybe there is, I do not know, but it is not the majority by any stretch of the imagination. Hon. members on the government side would do very well to recognize that they could work with the opposition on things that are really meaningful.
I want to speak to the part of the motion that deals with measures to prohibit the creation or use of sexually explicit materials exploiting children, or materials that appear to depict or describe children engaged in sexual activity. My remarks will be restricted to that aspect and I will not deal with the part concerning age of consent.
Why is this issue so important today? It has become important because of the recent decision in the John Robin Sharpe case. The judge decided that the man was not guilty of doing something illegal in terms of having pornographic material because it had artistic merit. The written material described sadomasochistic violence with boys.
The Oxford dictionary describes sadism as sexual perversion characterized by the enjoyment of inflicting pain or suffering on others and masochism as deriving sexual gratification from one's own pain or humiliation.
Does such material have artistic merit? The law is quite clear. Hon. members have stated clearly that there is a law against having pornographic material in Canada and indeed there is. According to our legislation child pornography can mean any written material or visual representation that advocates or counsels sexual activity with a person under the age of 18 years. That would be considered an offence under the code. One of the defences set out is:
Where the accused is charged with an offence under subsection (2), (3) or (4), the court shall find the accused not guilty if the representation or written material that is alleged to constitute child pornography has artistic merit or an educational, scientific or medical purpose.
It was under that particular provision that Mr. Sharpe was declared not guilty.
The case brings to our attention the need to protect children from evils associated with the possession of child pornography. No one denies that child pornography involves the exploitation of children. Possession of child pornography contributes to the market for child pornography, a market which in turn drives production involving the exploitation of children. Possession of child pornography may facilitate the seduction and grooming of victims and may break down inhibitions or incite potential offences. These are not my words, but rather the words of a supreme court justice.
Two issues stand in stark contrast to one another. On the one hand stands the right of freedom of expression as the Minister of Justice mentioned. That is a right which is fundamental to the liberty of each Canadian. On the other hand stands the conviction that the possession of child pornography must be forbidden to prevent harming children.
It is pretty clear what the issues are. What is pornography? I will not go through all the details about it, but I will deal with one particular aspect of this issue.
Written material can constitute child pornography in only the last of the ways I am going to mention. What is the way that is being talked about? It is by advocating or counselling sexual activity with a person under the age of 18 years. That would be an offence under the criminal code.
An adult or any other person who brings a child into this kind of knowledge and abuses and exposes the child to issues that are clearly defined in the legislation needs to be recognized in terms of what is fundamental to this nation and certainly fundamental to my beliefs.
I would like to read into the record the words of Jesus in Luke, chapter 17, verse 1:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves”.
That is very interesting. In our society today where many of the laws are based on Judeo-Christian values, to recognize that the authority behind that states clearly that people who mislead and bring about the offensive behaviour of certain people who are not responsible in their own right but who are adults and know exactly what they are doing, is a very serious offence.
The exposure to child pornography may reduce a pedophile's defences and inhibitions against sexual abuse of children. That is why we object. Banalizing the awful and numbing constant exposure to child pornography may make the abnormal seem normal and the immoral seem acceptable.
The evidence is clear and uncontradicted. Sexually explicit pornography involving children poses a danger to children because of its use by pedophiles in the seduction process. Criminalizing the possession of child pornography is likely to help reduce the grooming and seduction of children. Clearly then, that is what should be done.
The abuse of children in the production of pornography is conclusive. Children are used and abused in the making of much of the child pornography caught by the law. Production of child pornography is fueled by the market for it and the market in turn is fueled by those who seek to possess it. Criminalizing possession may reduce the market for child pornography and the abuse of children it often involves. It will not eliminate it but it will reduce it and that is certainly what we want.
The impugned provision recognizes that the possession of child pornography has a particularly deleterious effect on society since the persons depicted as most directly harmed are children, our most precious possession. It is interesting that when many of us here in the House are asked to speak at high school graduations, the comment we often use when we talk to a graduating class is that they are the leaders of tomorrow. That applies no less to the people who are four years old, six months old, or ten years old who are being used and abused by pedophiles. Their lives are scarred forever.
We want to avoid that kind of thing. In spite of the fact that a lot of good legislation exists, there is a provision in the legislation which I think has to be changed. I refer to the provision for a defence of artistic merit against the possession of pornography.
What may reasonably be viewed as art is admittedly a difficult question, one which philosophers have pondered through the ages. Although it is generally accepted that art includes the production according to aesthetic principles of works of the imagination, imitation or design, the question of whether a particular drawing, film or text is art must be left to the trial judge to determine on the basis of a variety of factors.
Pornography damages children. It needs to be done away with. I recommend that the first thing the government do is destroy and delete that provision in the legislation where it allows for artistic merit as a defence.
We love our kids. I was at a birthday party for my four year old grandson just last Sunday. When I think that he might be the object of a pedophile attack, it hurts. We can do something about it and we can do it now. We do not have to wait for a long study. Do away with that defence.