OTTAWA – “One of the first things this new Conservative government did after the 2006 federal election was to bring forward legislation which would raise the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 years of age,” states Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright.

Benoit is referring to the Age of Protection legislation, Bill C-22, which proposes to raise the age at which youth can consent to sexual activity. To help ensure that teenagers who engage in consensual sexual activity are not criminalized, it includes a close-in-age exemption, which would not criminalize 14- and 15-year-old youth engaging in sexual activity with a partner who is less than five years older. This is an issue for parents to deal with. Bill C-22 was passed by the House of Commons last week and was referred to the Senate on May 4th, 2007.

“The Liberals and other opposition parties continually voted against this legislation during the past five Parliaments,” explains Benoit. “However I and my colleagues were determined to protect children from being exploited and victimized by adult sexual predators.”

“This legislation marks an important step toward strengthening our child protection laws and brings Canada’s age of consent into conformity with that of many other like-minded countries,” concludes Benoit. “I urge the Liberal-dominated Senate to pass the age of protection into law as soon as possible.”

Since taking office, Canada’s new Government has brought forward 12 new justice bills including legislation to restrict conditional sentences, better fight alcohol- and drug impaired-driving, create tougher laws against street racing, and impose tougher mandatory penalties on members of organized crime, gangs and those who use firearms to commit crimes.