29 August 2013
Toronto, Ontario
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the Government’s plan to introduce comprehensive legislation that will better protect children against sexual exploitation. The Prime Minister was joined by Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs.
“Our Government continues to help make our streets and communities safer by cracking down on predators who abuse and exploit children,” said the Prime Minister. “New legislative amendments will be introduced this fall to better protect children from a range of sexual offences, including child pornography, while ensuring that offenders receive tougher sentences.”
The proposed amendments to Canadian legislation would:
- Increase penalties for offenders who commit sexual offences against children, especially those who violate the conditions included in probation orders, prohibition orders and peace bonds; and,
- Ensure that sentencing takes into account each young life that has been devastated by a predator through ending sentence discounts for multiple child sexual offences.
This announcement is part of a broad range of actions our Government has taken since 2006 to protect communities from child sexual offenders, punish offenders to the full extent of the law, hold violent criminals accountable, enhance the rights of victims, and increase the efficiency of our justice system.
