Canadian Centre for Child Protection brings CSAM-victim perspectives to the Supreme Court of Canada

Winnipeg, Canada — The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) will appear before the country’s highest court today to draw attention to the context and impacts child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offenses have on victims in the modern digital age.

On September 25, 2024, C3P was granted leave to intervene before the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Attorney General of Québec (AGQ) v. Senneville, a case involving a challenge to the constitutionality of the mandatory minimum sentence for the offences of possessing and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material (still legally referred to as “child pornography”).

C3P’s interest in the case is to ensure the significant harms suffered by victims of CSAM — whose voices are rarely heard in these types of cases — are given appropriate weight in the constitutional analysis. C3P’s brief will focus on three critical points:

• The need for CSAM-related harms to be contextualized within the modern digital realities of these crimes;
• The need to meaningfully take into account the significant harm to victims arising from these crimes within the analysis framework;
• How sentencing principles must not perpetuate misconceptions about offenders or the impact of their crimes on victims. 

The hearing will be held on January 20th at 9:30 Eastern Time. 

• Watch the hearing live here.
• Learn more about the case here.

C3P is thankful for the pro bono representation of Samantha Hale and Amy Goudge of Lenczner Slaght.