Bill C-2
Encyclopedia
Bill
C-2 is part of Canadian legislation. It was initially read October 8, 2004 and published on the net five days later. After moving from the House of Commons to the Senate, after its first Senate reading on June 14, 2005 it was amended two days later, four days prior to its second Senate reading on June 20. Unlike previously, it was not referred to committee, so there was no senate committee report, nor a third reading.
Bill C-2 is notable for its reformatting of Canadian laws related to consent, and of sexual offenses in Canada. In particular, it modifies section 153 ("sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching of a victim under 18"). Prior to Bill C-2, a law has stood for a deal of time that applies only to persons in a position of trust or authority toward the young person, or with whom the young person is in a relationship of dependency. At the time, the minimum age of consent was 14 years of age (currently it is 16, after legislation passed later in 2008) but was in effect 18 years of age when applied to special relationships where there is a difference of power, as specified above.
Clause 4 of Bill C-2 expanded this to include a vague criteria worded "anyone who is in a relationship with a young person that is exploitative of the young person". Unlike the previous wording, which is specifically worded, whether or not the nature of the relationship is considered to be exploited is given mostly to the prerogative of the judge presiding over the case charges to decide.
The Canadian Department of Justice website has an FAQ which mentions this bill. It made statements about the bill, described as having passed in July 2005, which explains why there was no third reading in the Senate. The FAQ was present as late as May 22, 2008. The most recent date it had listed having been modified was April 9, 2008. The FAQ summarized what the previous requirements were for sex under 18 to be illegal, and the additional inclusions (lesser requirements) which occurred when the bill passed.
It was further modified December 12, 2008 to include a disclaimer that as of May 11, 2008 C-2 came into force as part of the Tackling Violent Crime bill. The criteria shown in the update linked to included recent modifications such as the increase of the minimum age from 14 to 16, and do not detail the extensiveness to which the exploitation can be adapted to an individual judge's opinion of a couple's relationship. It does not mention that this has been removed from the bill.
How does Bill C-2 (Protection of children and other vulnerable persons), which was passed by Parliament in July 2005, address the age of consent?
How will Bill C-2 better protect young persons from sexual predators?
Has the age of consent always been 14 years?
Isn’t Canada’s age of consent law lower than that of other countries?
Fourteen-year olds are too young to appreciate the consequences of engaging in any sexual activity, even with another person who is close in age. Why won’t the government raise the age to 16 years for non-exploitative activity?
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
C-2 is part of Canadian legislation. It was initially read October 8, 2004 and published on the net five days later. After moving from the House of Commons to the Senate, after its first Senate reading on June 14, 2005 it was amended two days later, four days prior to its second Senate reading on June 20. Unlike previously, it was not referred to committee, so there was no senate committee report, nor a third reading.
Bill C-2 is notable for its reformatting of Canadian laws related to consent, and of sexual offenses in Canada. In particular, it modifies section 153 ("sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching of a victim under 18"). Prior to Bill C-2, a law has stood for a deal of time that applies only to persons in a position of trust or authority toward the young person, or with whom the young person is in a relationship of dependency. At the time, the minimum age of consent was 14 years of age (currently it is 16, after legislation passed later in 2008) but was in effect 18 years of age when applied to special relationships where there is a difference of power, as specified above.
Clause 4 of Bill C-2 expanded this to include a vague criteria worded "anyone who is in a relationship with a young person that is exploitative of the young person". Unlike the previous wording, which is specifically worded, whether or not the nature of the relationship is considered to be exploited is given mostly to the prerogative of the judge presiding over the case charges to decide.
The Canadian Department of Justice website has an FAQ which mentions this bill. It made statements about the bill, described as having passed in July 2005, which explains why there was no third reading in the Senate. The FAQ was present as late as May 22, 2008. The most recent date it had listed having been modified was April 9, 2008. The FAQ summarized what the previous requirements were for sex under 18 to be illegal, and the additional inclusions (lesser requirements) which occurred when the bill passed.
It was further modified December 12, 2008 to include a disclaimer that as of May 11, 2008 C-2 came into force as part of the Tackling Violent Crime bill. The criteria shown in the update linked to included recent modifications such as the increase of the minimum age from 14 to 16, and do not detail the extensiveness to which the exploitation can be adapted to an individual judge's opinion of a couple's relationship. It does not mention that this has been removed from the bill.
Summary
What is Canada’s age of consent?- "The age of consent is 18 years where the sexual activity involves exploitative activity, such as prostitution, pornography or where there is a relationship of trust, authority or dependency."
How does Bill C-2 (Protection of children and other vulnerable persons), which was passed by Parliament in July 2005, address the age of consent?
- "Bill C-2 provides increased protection against exploitative sexual activity. It creates a new offence against the sexual exploitation of youth under 18 years where the relationship is exploitative of the young person, as evidenced by the nature and circumstances of the relationship, including the age of the young person, the difference in age between the youth and the other person, how the relationship evolved, and the degree of control or influence exercised over the young person.
- Accordingly, this new offence provides youth with better protection against sexual exploitation by focusing on the wrongful conduct of the other person who exploits their vulnerability and not on whether they “consented” to be exploited."
How will Bill C-2 better protect young persons from sexual predators?
- "Bill C-2’s new offence against the sexual exploitation of youth under 18 years age recognizes that sexual predators - whether they are much older or close in age - seek to exploit the particular circumstances or vulnerabilities of young persons. Bill C-2 recognizes that the age of a person can be an indicator of vulnerability; however, Bill C-2 also recognizes that there are other indicators, including:
- age difference: is the other person much older than the young person?
- evolution of the relationship: how did the relationship develop? For example, did it develop quickly and secretly over the Internet?
- control or influence over the young person: what degree of control or influence did the other person have over the young person?
- Under Bill C-2, all of these factors are relevant with the result that all youth under 18 will be better protected against those who seek to prey on their vulnerability."
Interaction with the previous age of consent
At the time, the age of consent in Canada was 14, and Bill C-2 expanded Canada's criteria which would outlaw sex with people 14–17 (at the time above that age of consent) under specific conditions. The previous FAQ addressed this in an explanation. It described the history of Canadian law on this issue, and why Canada could have lower laws than other nations, and how the bill helped to secure its populace. The FAQ posed hypothetical leading questions which were answered by an anonymous government representative. The sections were as follows:Has the age of consent always been 14 years?
- "Although some mistakenly believe that the age of consent was lowered in the 1980s, the age of consent to sexual activity has been 14 years since 1890 when it was raised from 12 years."
Isn’t Canada’s age of consent law lower than that of other countries?
- "Comparisons between Canada’s age of consent laws to those in other countries often do not differentiate between those that apply to “exploitative” sexual activity and those that apply to other activity. A complete comparison, including the significantly broadened protection against exploitative sexual activity provided by Bill C-2, shows that Canada’s criminal law framework of protection against the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and youth is amongst the most comprehensive anywhere."
Fourteen-year olds are too young to appreciate the consequences of engaging in any sexual activity, even with another person who is close in age. Why won’t the government raise the age to 16 years for non-exploitative activity?
- "Although there are many views on what is an appropriate age to begin to engage in sexual activity, the fact is that young persons do engage in sexual activity. The Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study 2003 report by the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education reported that the average age of first sexual intercourse was 14.1 years for boys and 14.5 years for girls. Educating youth to make informed choices that are right for them is better addressed through parental guidance and sexual health education than by using the Criminal Code to criminalize youth for engaging in such activity."