Mr. Speaker, as part of our government's commitment to ensuring the safety of our children and youth, I am pleased to announce today that the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act has come fully into force.
Canadians across the country have been confronted by the harmful reality of cyberbullying. With the coming into force of the legislation, we are sending a strong message to those who are out to harm our children that there is a point where bullying behaviour goes beyond that and becomes criminal behaviour.
The legislation will give law enforcement officers the tools they need to investigate these high-tech crimes, while also making it an offence to distribute intimate images online. It will also empower the court to remove intimate images and make it a crime to share intimate images. It will make it possible to seize the devices used to actually commit the crime.
The Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act builds on the more than 30 tough-on-crime pieces of legislation put forward by the government. With the coming into force of this legislation, we are tackling the growing problem of cyberbullying and keeping online—