Kinsa President & CEO Paul Gillespie meets with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper regarding proposed legislative changes. The Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice (left), and Paul Gillespie, President & CEO of Kinsa (far right), announce mandatory reporting bill.
Kinsa believes that legislative change is a key component in the fight to eradicate cybercrime. Kinsa’s advocacy program actively promotes positive change in legislation and industry. Kinsa experts have addressed topics relevant to online child exploitation including law enforcement issues, technology, prosecutions, sentencing, victim support, offender management and treatment. The following are some of our most recent advocacy successes.
Kinsa President & CEO Paul Gillespie meets with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper regarding proposed legislative changes.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper invites Kinsa President and CEO, Paul Gillespie, along with other selected leaders of crime victims’ organizations, to discuss the government’s legislation aimed at overhauling the pardon system. Kinsa expresses concern regarding a possible pardon request from Karla Homolka, who was convicted of manslaughter, following a plea bargain, related to the sexual abuse and murder of at least three young females, including her own sister.
May 25, 2010
Bill C29, an Act to amend Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, is introduced into Parliament
This long-awaited government response to the mandatory review of PIPEDA includes amendments that could significantly change Canada’s privacy law compliance. Kinsa provides a written submission supporting amendments to the Disclosure Without Knowledge or Consent section that would remove ambiguity with regards to law enforcement requests and balance privacy and child safety risks related to this issue.
2010
Improvements to National Sex Offender Registry and National DNA Data Bank
Kinsa meets with Members of Parliament and addresses a Senate sub-committee to provide background and context related to suspected pedophiles and child sex abusers in Canada and worldwide. November 2009
Government of Canada Introduces Legislation to help Protect Children from Internet Sexual Predators
Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, invites Kinsa to Ottawa to join him for an announcement regarding legislation that will assist in the fight against the sexual exploitation of children by requiring suppliers of Internet services to report Internet child pornography.
November 2009
There Ought to be a Law: Protecting Children’s Online Privacy in the 21st Century
Kinsa was a member of the group that drafted this discussion paper by the Working Group of Canadian Privacy Commissioners and Child and Youth Advocates. It encourages Canadian law makers to take the lead in promoting law reform initiatives to strengthen children’s privacy at home. The paper includes suggested amendments for existing legislative instruments.
2009 Tackling Violent Crime Act passes, raising legal age of sexual consent in Canada to 16 from 14
Kinsa testified on the original Bill to bring about this change and provided frequent commentary on the issue throughout the debate.
May 2009
Ontario Attorney General changes regulations under Victims’ Bill of Rights
Victims of Internet child exploitation may now seek financial compensation directly from an offender for their suffering. Kinsa advocated for Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley to change regulations under the Victims’ Bill of Rights to empower victims of Internet child exploitation to seek financial compensation directly from an offender for their suffering. This change serves as a further deterrent to offenders because any lawsuit would be additional to penalties imposed by the criminal court.
2009
Report issued by the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for the Victims of Crime
Every Image, Every Child “Sometimes you can hear the children cry,” a quote by Kinsa’s Paul Gillespie, opens the Internet- Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse section of this report. The report provides an overview of the problem of Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse, identifies issues that negatively impact child victims and makes nine recommendations for positive change directed to the Ministers of Justice and Public Safety, the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre of RCMP and the Policy Centre for Victim Issues of the Department of Justice. A number of recommendations from this report have been incorporated into legislation or are components of pending legislative reforms now in committee.
December 9, 2008
Ontario passes Child Pornography Reporting Act
The province makes it a criminal offense not to report suspected child pornography. Kinsa advocated for this legislation to raise awareness that child pornography constitutes child abuse. Bill C-268 will amend Canada’s Criminal Code to introduce a new human trafficking offence specifically addressing child traffickers. The new law will provide a minimum sentence of five years imprisonment for anyone convicted of trafficking a minor in Canada and a minimum of six years imprisonment for cases with aggravating factors.