Mr. Speaker, my constituency of Winnipeg North has a great deal to say about the topic at hand and many others that we are debating in the House of Commons.
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to join in the debate on Bill C-22. We are talking about legislation to amend the Criminal Code to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 and to consider, in addition to that, a concept which is a close in age exception.
The House can tell by the speech of my colleague, the member for Vancouver East, that our caucus has spent a great deal of time thinking and talking about this issue. We have taken it very seriously. We bring to the table today differences of opinion that are respected by each of us. There is a bottom line for all of us in our caucus. We have no intention of supporting legislation whose sole purpose would be to criminalize the sexual activity of our young people. If that is the intention of the government in bringing this forward, we do not support it whatsoever.
We also, by virtue of the legislation, do not rule out the need for other initiatives that deal very much with the problems that have been articulated in the course of this debate. As my colleague from Vancouver East said, we must always focus on the need for education and support to ensure that our young people are able to make choices that are based on all the information and have supports in place to help them through some of life's most difficult challenges.
As a mother of a 17-year-old boy, I worry about this area constantly. I think about it in terms of what is the best prescription, what is the best legislative framework for ensuring that our kids are both protected when they are vulnerable, and also able to exert their independence and to make choices with the full knowledge that we have been able to instil in them up to that point.
I want to begin by saying there are no easy answers. There is a vigorous debate going on. All sides must be respected and I hope we do so in the chamber today. I, for one, will take a slightly different tack from my colleague, the member for Vancouver East, and actually give fairly unequivocal support to the bill before us.
I have given lots of consideration to the full issue of raising the age of consent from 14 to 16 and have consulted widely in my constituency. I can say without hesitation that the vast majority of people in my constituency, who think about these issues and are worried about various matters, want to see this change take place as long as we include in it the close in age exception.
The bill as we know it raises the age from 14 to 16. It includes the close in age exemption that would permit sexual activity with a partner who is less than five years older. We think that is a reasonable compromise for this issue, given where some of the Conservatives started out on this whole matter.
A number of years ago we dealt with this in the House on a private member's bill, when it was suggested that we simply raise the age of consent and make no consideration to the sexual activity of young people and to the fact that there are some relationships that actually take place that are meaningful at that age.
I would prefer if my son was not engaged in any activity that we are talking about at the age of 17, but I am not about to judge, nor am I about to accuse him. Certainly, I know that he is of an age now where I hope that I have given him enough of a base that he can make wise decisions and wise choices.
However, we do have an obligation as a Parliament to worry about a much broader issue, and that is the question of sexual exploitation of young children. That is how I approach the bill. I believe it is a useful tool for dealing with a very serious and growing problem among us.
I was reading through some of the clippings on this whole issue and I was reminded of the work David Matas has been doing on this matter in Winnipeg. Following the Peter Whitmore saga, he wrote an article in the Winnipeg Free Press on August 9 stating:
Canada is not doing enough to protect children from sexual abuse.
There are at least four ways protection could be improved. One is raising the age of consent for sex with adults. Right now it is 14. It is chilling to realize, but Whitmore cannot be convicted with sexual abuse of the 14-year-old from Winnipeg unless it can be established either that Whitmore sexually exploited the child or that the child did not consent to sex.
David Matas has helped us put this issue in perspective, at least for me, and I see some validity in this legislation from that perspective. We have had numerous briefs and reports on this issue over the years and the wisdom from some of those studies has to be considered.
I also want to refer to another Winnipeg writer by the name of Penni Mitchell. This goes back to five years ago when we were grappling with the issue of pornography and the fact that those being depicted in pornography are more and more likely to be very young children, and that we needed to find ways to curb this exploitation of our children and young people. Penni Mitchell, in the Winnipeg Free Press in 2001, said:
Changing the age of consent may, however, address the concerns of those who want to stop predators from luring young teens through on-line chat rooms. The fact that the issue was mentioned in the throne speech is a positive sign.
It is too bad we are still debating the issue today.
She goes on to say:
The fact that the Supreme Court has shone some light on our outdated consent laws may not be such a bad thing either. Under the Criminal Code, 12- and 13-year-olds can consent to lawful sexual activity as long as their boyfriend or girlfriend is not more than two years older than they are. At 14, they can engage in lawful sexual activity with an adult as long as the 14-year-old consents and the adult is not in a position of trust or authority, or someone with whom the youth is in a position of dependency. At the other extreme, Section 159 holds that anal sex is illegal unless the parties are a) husband and wife, or b) consenting adults, 18 or over. An Ontario court ruling has cast doubts on the validity of that section.
She concludes by saying:
A reasonable move to increase prosecutions of Internet predators and address some potential abuses in the personal recording exemption granted by the Supreme Court may be to follow Britain's lead and make the age of sexual consent 16 for all teenagers. Britain is also on the leading edge of prosecuting pedophiles involved at an international level, an area where Canadian law is weak.
I read this because this is from an active feminist in Winnipeg who is a long time editor of the magazine entitled Horizons. She has put on record a position that is, in my view, one that ought to give us some confidence in supporting Bill C-22 as long as the commitment to keeping a close in age exemption is part of the legislation.
Having consulted with many in my constituency in Winnipeg, especially those groups that deal with young prostitutes, exploited youth and women who are treated as nothing more than sexual objects, the belief is that this bill will make a difference.
We also know about a recent street program in Regina that is offering some help. The folks running that program and the safety services have concluded that an increase in the age of consent for sexual activity would make sense. They go on to say:
...a bigger safe house for sexually exploited kids, stronger legislation against johns and a way to help 16- and 17- year-olds who are too young for some programs and too old for others.
We are talking about one measure but it must be part of a bigger package. We do not want this dealt with in isolation. We see the importance of recognizing the need for supports and for education, as well as for this change to the Criminal Code.
Finally, let me put on the record that it is probably fair to say that a good number of young people have thought about this question and have come to the conclusion that it would make sense to increase the age of consent. I am referring to the democracy project that was published by the Dominion Institute where it said that a majority of young Canadian adults wanted the legal age of consent for sex to be raised. In fact, 54% of Canadian young adults and students aged 18 to 24 support raising the age of consent.
Therefore, we are not in danger of ignoring the concerns of young people. We are certainly not in danger of avoiding a very important social issue and with this bill we can go forward with a constructive solution that will help protect our young people from sexual predators and help ensure that young girls, teenagers and women are not treated as sexual objects and therefore condemned to a life of victimization.