Late last week I was very glad to see legislation that I first introduced three years ago in the Manitoba Legislature receive unanimous support from all three political parties and become law in the province.
The idea for The Justice for Victims of Child Pornography Act, came from a meeting that I had with Roz Prober about four years ago. Roz is President of the Manitoba chapter of Beyond Borders. Beyond Borders is a national organization that fights on behalf of children who are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. At our meeting, she indicated that those involved in possessing, creating and distributing child pornography are often charged under Canada’s Criminal Code but they manage to avoid civil prosecution because the children in the graphic photos are either unknown or unable to bring a civil suit.
Following the meeting I began the work of creating a law that would allow the province to sue in civil court, on behalf of child victims, individuals who are found to be involved with child pornography. Under The Justice for Victims of Child Pornography Act, any financial penalty that is handed out by a court against the person involved with child pornography goes to the children in the photos or, where the children are unknown, will go into a fund to help police and other organizations fight child pornography. The reality is that with the majority of child pornography images, the victims in the pictures are never able to be identified by police.
For the last two years, while members of the NDP government spoke favorably about the legislation, they never allowed it to pass and become law. Finally this year, after re-introducing it again this spring, it was supported by all members of the Legislature and became law last week.
While I am disappointed it took three years to get the legislation passed, I am glad that it is now law. The hope is that the legislation will provide compensation to victims of child pornography, provide a fund to help combat the crime and also provide further deterrence to those who possess, create and distribute these horrendous images of innocent children.
During my time as Justice Critic for the Progressive Conservative Party, I have visited with members of the police who work to fight child pornography. While they each state that it is rewarding work to catch child predators, it also has to be among the most difficult jobs imaginable. I hope that this legislation benefits them as well in their fight against those who victimize children.
I would like to thank the many residents in the Steinbach Constituency who supported this legislation over the past number of years through your petitions, letters and encouragement. Without your support this legislation would not have become law in Manitoba.
