THE legal age of sexual consent in Canada has finally been raised to 16. Before a federal anti-crime omnibus bill passed last week, it was 14, one of the lowest in the world.
That meant any adult could have sex with a 14-year-old girl or boy so long as their birthday had passed.
At 14, we don't let our kids drive, vote, consume alcohol or buy cigarettes. But we did nothing to prevent adults from climbing into bed with them. In the eyes of the law, a junior high school student was a sexual adult.
What took the government so long to come to its senses?
The charge to raise the legal age was, in no small measure, a Manitoba-driven initiative. Children's rights advocate Roz Prober, former justice minister (now Family Services Minister) Gord Mackintosh, Child Find Manitoba's Lianna McDonald, Manitoba MP Vic Toews and countless local cops, lawyers and average citizens have battled to make this country understand it wasn't doing enough to protect kids from predators.
I hope champagne corks were flying Thursday when the federal bill was passed. It took Stephen Harper threatening to call an election if the deed wasn't done by March 1, but it squeaked through.
Thirty-one senators abstained. Another 27 didn't show up. Manitoba senators Janis Johnson and Terry Stratton, both Conservatives, voted in favor of the bill. Independent Mira Spivak voted against it.
Liberal Maria Chaput abstained and Liberals Sharon Carstairs and Rod Zimmer were absent.
The final vote was 19-16, not a resounding victory but good enough.
This bill will not criminalize sex between consenting teenagers, no matter what raging liberals believe.
There's a close-in-age exemption to cover that. A 15-year-old and a 17-year-old having consensual sex, as uncomfortable as that may make parents feel, will not be a crime.
A 15-year-old and a 25-year-old will be.
The last time the age of consent was changed was in 1892, when it was raised from 12 to 14.
Shame on us for spending several generations not doing enough to protect our kids and their innocence.
Lianna McDonald's research, and that of others, revealed young teenage girls are often targets of online predators who attempt to lure them into face-to-face meetings.
If they were 13, the men could be prosecuted.
If they were 14, their parents, the cops and the justice system had to stand by helplessly. This position was indefensible.
Everyone who worked to raise the age of sexual consent deserves a round of applause. Clapping most enthusiastically should be the parents of young teenagers who will be safe from legal predators for a couple of more years.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Lindor Reynolds blogs at www.winnipegfreepress.com
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