Kamloops MP’s bill to replace term ‘child pornography’ in criminal code gets royal assent – Kamloops News

By this time next year, the term “child pornography” should be a thing of the past in courtrooms and legal books across Canada.

On Thursday, Private Members Bill C-291, which changes the term “child pornography” to “child sexual abuse and exploitation materials” in the Criminal Code, received royal assent, making it official law in Canada.

Bill 2022, which passed unanimously in the House of Commons last year and recently passed third reading in the Senate without amendment, was drafted by Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Rep. Frank Caputo and sponsored by North Okanagan-Shuswap Rep. Mel Arnold.

Caputo told Castanet Kamloops that the law will come into effect in a year as all charging documents in Canada will use the new terminology starting October 10, 2025. He said the new terminology would also be used in court cases in a year.

“But I hope that people start using the appropriate term sooner,” Caputo said.

Some lawyers and judges in Kamloops have already gotten used to the new terms.

Caputo said “child sexual abuse and exploitation materials” would also replace “child pornography” in the 2026 edition of the Criminal Code of Canada.

“It’s really gratifying”

The passage of a private member’s bill is no small matter.

Of the 212 private members’ bills introduced since 2021, only seven have received royal assent to become law. Caputo’s is now only the eighth.

“It’s really gratifying that this is happening, but not only that, it’s also very important for me to leave a mark on Canadian law that will hopefully last beyond my years in Parliament and even my life,” Caputo said.

Caputo, a former Kamloops Crown prosecutor with experience in sexual assault and exploitation cases, said the change is small but important in recognizing the impact of sexual assault on children.

“My hope is that hearts and mentalities change. “This definition of pornography really sanitizes what happens in this type of crime, which is child sexual abuse,” Caputo said.

“In many cases, these materials on the dark web are viewed over and over again and the child becomes a victim again and again. It is important to recognize that this has profound implications and I believe as a society we have for far too long not addressed the impact of sexual offending, particularly sexual offending against children.”

Consultants like change

Staff at the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counseling Center (KSACC) say the new law helps raise awareness.

“When we change the language, we change our understanding of the issue to better protect children experiencing abuse,” Hailey Hughes, KSACC sexual abuse intervention program counselor, said in a statement.

Fern Apeiron, KSACC director of the Kamloops Sex Workers Association, said the change in wording is also important for sex workers who produce actual pornography because it reduces the conflation of their activity with child exploitation and trafficking.

“This is huge for us,” she said, noting that child sex workers do not exist but rather are victims of child exploitation and trafficking.

Laura Evans, KSACC victim services officer, said that while the wording of the offense does not pose a major problem for victims, the change makes it clear to society as a whole that children cannot consent to sexual activity.

“It is so important that we make changes to the law for these types of crimes too,” Evans said. “Words are important. This is a great starting point. It’s just not enough.”

She said this change will raise awareness of the maximum sexual abuse penalties in Canada that judges are bound to impose on offenders who create and distribute child sexual abuse material. The current prison sentence is 14 years.

Supplementary invoice unlikely

Caputo also drafted Private Members’ Bill C-299, which would raise the maximum sentence for most sexual offenses to life in prison, equivalent to the maximum sentence for robbery.

He said the current maximum sentence for sexual assault is 10 years, increasing to 14 years if the victim is a child.

“We actually take the expropriation of property more seriously than the expropriation of consent and dignity, even from children,” Caputo said. “C-299 changes this imbalance.”

However, he said the relevant bill was unlikely to be passed and had not been put to the House of Commons for a vote.

Caputo expressed relief that Bill C-291 had now become law, as there was a risk of a prorogation of Parliament or even an early election, which would have stalled the bill’s progress.