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| Public pressure still needed to pass C-268 |
| Sexuality |
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Even though Members of Parliament voted overwhelmingly to give approval in principle to her bill boosting prison time for child-sex traffickers, Manitoba Conservative MP Joy Smith warns that is no guarantee it will eventually become law. Private member’s bill C-268 proposes giving courts no option but to sentence persons convicted of trafficking in children under the age of 18 to a minimum five-year prison term. On April 22, it passed second reading by a vote of 232-47. The bill is now in the hands of the Commons Justice Committee awaiting an in-depth review. Once that is completed, it will be sent back to the House of Commons for third and final reading. If it passes, the bill would then go on to the Senate. Smith credits the efforts of concerned Canadians with getting C-268 this far. “The fact that people all across Canada [told their MPs to] vote for this bill had a huge impact,” she told Today’s Family News. “I think that’s what’s helped out the most. In fact, I know it.” “This bill is a great example of the kind of legislation that we need to have more of,” said Jocelyn Durston, an international policy analyst with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the author of a new report on Canada’s modern-day slave trade. “We’ve done so little to convict traffickers. And when we have, it really doesn’t seem like the sentencing equals the awfulness of the crime.” But now Smith is anxious that the MPs on the committee pass C-268 quickly, as it is “very, very important” that it be in place in time to serve as a deterrent to criminals seeking to traffic children as prostitutes during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. “It would only take a day or so to have the examination completed. If they had a will to pass it, they would pass it,” she said. “But often you find out on committee where people really stand. So there’s still a lot of pressure that has to be put on the committee.” “What will make it go through,” Smith added, “is when people send in letters, people send in petitions, and people say, ‘We want it through the committee. We want these innocent victims protected.’ That will make it a priority. We’re just hoping and praying that people get onboard and they contact their MPs, they send letters to the prime minister and to the justice minister to fast-track this. We can’t be tardy about it.” All mail addressed to MPs’ Ottawa offices is postage-free. Most of the opposition to C-268 on second reading came from Bloc Quebecois MPs, who reject mandatory minimum sentencing as a matter of principle. |
