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Criminalizing Non-Consensual Sexual Videos

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sexual assault material)

Summary

  • Creates a new Criminal Code offence banning the making, publishing, distributing, selling, importing, exporting, accessing, or possessing visual recordings that explicitly and realistically depict non-consensual sexual activity, defined as sexual assault material.
  • Sets penalties up to 14 years' imprisonment and fines up to $100,000 for making or distributing such material, with lower maximums for possession and accessing.
  • Treats profit-motivated offences as an aggravating factor and limits the defence of mistaken belief in consent unless reasonable steps were taken and the material does not depict the activity as non-consensual.
  • Provides a narrow defence for legitimate purposes related to the administration of justice, science, medicine, education, or art, and defines accessing as knowingly causing the material to be viewed or transmitted to oneself.

Builder Assessment

Abstain

Principles Analysis

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Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

Primarily a criminal law and public safety measure; any macroeconomic impact on overall prosperity is indirect and uncertain.

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Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Creates new criminal prohibitions and potential compliance burdens for digital platforms and publishers, increasing regulatory exposure.

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Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Limited direct impact on productivity or competitiveness beyond niche effects in digital content sectors.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

No material link to trade or export growth.

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Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Unclear net effect; may chill certain adult-content ventures while not materially affecting broader investment or innovation.

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Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Enforcement and prosecution may increase costs; deterrence benefits are uncertain and not demonstrably efficiency-enhancing.

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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

Does not address taxation.

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Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Addresses a social-harm issue rather than economy-wide prosperity drivers.

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C-275

PartyMember of Parliament
StatusOutside the Order of Precedence
Last updatedN/A
TopicsCriminal Justice, Technology and Innovation, Social Issues
Parliament45