Posted on 02/08/2006 7:42:20 AM PST by Clive
OTTAWA -- Raising the legal age for Canadians to have sex and toughening up prison terms for gun-toting criminals will be top legislative priorities for the new Conservative government, according to Justice Minister Vic Toews.
The Manitoba MP, a former attorney general in his home province, said the Conservative government would likely pace its law-and-order agenda instead of tabling a mammoth omnibus bill that could have trouble passing as a package.
"One of the issues I would like to see brought forward as quickly as possible is the age of protection, raising that from 14 to 16, and looking at bringing in a close-in-age exemption," Toews said.
"We don't want to criminalize consenting sexual conduct between youth; we want to protect young people from adult sexual predators. If we look at that, for example, as a stand-alone bill, that could be done fairly quickly."
GRITS BLOCKED MOTION
Last fall a Conservative motion to raise the age of consensual sex was defeated in a 169-100 vote. Former justice minister Irwin Cotler had urged fellow Liberals to vote against it because a child protection law already strengthened safeguards to stop the sexual exploitation of children.
Toews also said the Conservatives will band together with the NDP to boost mandatory minimum sentences for gun offences.
But the Tory pledge to abolish the controversial gun registry could move to the back burner in the wake of warnings from police chiefs.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day didn't directly say if the plan to cancel the controversial registry will proceed with the sweeping agenda to combat crime.
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thank goodness. 14 was really bugging me!!! AND i hope they really do crack down on people who commit crimes with a gun. automatic double sentence? that sound fair to you? and i hope STIFFER sentences!!
I hardly bothered to look at the post until I noticed 14 years old!? How did they reduce the age of consent to that?
I don't wish to automatically conclude that their group is infested by pedophiles but there certainly is a curious connection.
Glad to know that the Tories might be pushing that bar back a little, however, 14/16 is still very young.
"I hardly bothered to look at the post until I noticed 14 years old!?"
Until recently, several US states had the age of consent set at 14, too. I believe all have raised to at least 16 now.
How long was the age of consent 14, is it a throwback to the old pioneer days when people married and died at a young age.
Canada Ping!
Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.
14 has always been the age of consent here in Canada.
So it would be perfectly legal for a 40 year old man to have sex with a 16 year old?
"So it would be perfectly legal for a 40 year old man to have sex with a 16 year old?"
Yup. As it is in many states in this country.
So now a 40 year old man can legally sodomize a 16 year old boy. Of course Canada is much more "progressive" than the US.
Only the Liberals would think 14 is an acceptable age of consent.
Depends on the state. You can go to the site below, which has ages of consent, along with information on different ages for homosexual sex, in some cases.
You can click the link for each state for further explanations. In some states, the scenario you mention would be legal. In others it would not.
http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm
They probably didn't reduce the age of consent to 14, it probably was always that way.
Marriages at puberty were common in pre-industrial societies, including in North America, and age-of-consent laws reflected this. In many 'Red' states, age-of-consent laws allow marriages with parental consent at 14. Oddly the 'Blue' states where once one hits 18 any sex, no matter how perverse, is 'celebrated', were the ones to first institute the fiction that sexually mature human beings who can't vote yet are 'children'.
Do you think the Supreme Court will allow those differences will be allowed to stand?
Canada: "We're #1 at being just north of the United States!"
"Do you think the Supreme Court will allow those differences will be allowed to stand?"
They probably will, but I don't know. It would take a case getting to them to find out.
From what I understand, SCOTUS upheld the Texas laws against homosexual activity, but I could be mistaken.
It's not something I follow, really. I just knew of this site from another thread.
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