Conservative MP nowhere to be found as groups urge action on his bill

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OTTAWA — Liberal MPs say Conservative MP Arnold Viersen is being “silenced” as a House of Commons committee is attempting to study his bill to stop online sexual exploitation while child protection groups are calling on MPs to put aside their differences and move the bill forward with or without him.

Viersen’s private member’s bill, C-270, seeks to prohibit individuals and companies from making, distributing or advertising pornographic material without having first made sure that the people depicted were at least 18 years of age and gave their express consent.

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The bill received unanimous support from all parties in the House of Commons earlier this year and was sent to the justice committee to be further studied. It is a rare occurrence for legislation emanating from the opposition, as they rarely make it this far in the process.

But since Oct. 31, the work of the justice committee has halted with Viersen ignoring requests to testify on his own bill and his Conservative colleagues filibustering the committee to prevent a vote on an extension of the study of the bill for another 30 days.

As a result, C-270 could be sent back to a still paralyzed House with no amendments by Nov. 19 — and no clear deadline for when or if it will be adopted in third reading.

Liberal MPs believe Conservatives want to prevent Viersen from speaking in a public forum after he discussed his socially conservative views on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage — which he said he would vote against — on a Liberal MP’s podcast earlier this year.

“It’s a lot of effort to go into preventing him from testifying for an hour,” Liberal MP Chris Bittle said in an interview about the Conservative filibustering.

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Bittle added that pro-life groups “would be shocked to find out that one of their most vocal pro-life members is being silenced by the party.”

His colleague James Maloney, who has been tweeting #WheresArnold, said that he would personally be “furious” if his own colleagues were preventing him from testifying on his own bill.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office declined to comment when asked if it has specifically forbidden Viersen from speaking to the committee on his private member’s bill. And Viersen has so far ignored requests for comment from the National Post.

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor said the focus on Viersen is “a bit of a distraction” and that he is not “absolutely necessary” to have as a witness, as others could testify.

“I think the real question is, why are the Conservatives not allowing the committee to formally request an extension to study the bill?”

Multiple groups who have supported C-270 are calling on MPs to set aside their differences and move the legislation forward to better protect victims of online exploitation.

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“Out of respect for survivors and the protection of every Canadian, we encourage the committee to move the process forward without delay,” said Janet Campbell, the president and CEO of The Joy Smith Foundation which raises awareness about human trafficking.

“This is a human rights issue that everyone on the committee should want to see in place to protect their own loved ones and the constituents that they serve,” she added.

Some have even given submissions to the committee, arguing there should be a stronger emphasis on monetization or artificial intelligence-generated images in pornographic content. But they agree C-270 is a good first step in protecting women and children.

Julia Beazley, director of public policy at the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said she wants MPs to know that Viersen’s bill is “much needed and overdue.”

“Bill C-270 will help to prevent the distribution of child sexual abuse materials, images of exploitation and abuse, and intimate images shared without consent. Preventing sexual victimization online is something MPs from all parties can support,” she said.

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Beazley added her organization highlighted the “escalating threat of generative AI, which creates explicit images using both real and AI-created images of children and adults” and is asking the committee to ensure that that type of content is addressed.

Friends of Canadian Media wrote a submission to the committee arguing that the bill could go even further by making it illegal to not only advertise pornographic material that is non-consensual or depicts minors, but also placing advertisements next to this content.

“Put more simply, if the content is illegal, making money off it must also be illegal,” reads the submission.

For years now, federal lawmakers have been studying how to best respond to the removal of child pornography and non-consensual intimate images or videos from streaming platforms such as Pornhub but have made little progress in changing laws.

Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne brought forward S-210 in 2021 which would effectively implement an age verification mechanism when accessing sexually explicit material on the Internet and has raised widespread privacy concerns from civil society and legal groups.

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Earlier this year, the federal government tabled its long-awaited Online Harms Act which seeks to force online platforms to monitor and remove harmful content, including non-consensual intimate images and content that victimizes children such as sexual abuse.

However, the bill also proposes a wide expansion of hate speech laws, including some that would allow penalties up to life imprisonment, which has caused the opposition and critics to raise concerns about its impact on freedom of expression online.

Given the political landscape and the likelihood of elections being called in the short term, Penny Rankin of the National Council of Women of Canada is urging MPs to put in place any legislative measure that could help better protect children online.

“Canada is so far behind. We are so far behind in addressing legislation to protect our kids online, and they are vulnerable,” she said.

And while C-270 does not “tick all the boxes” in her view, Rankin said it is a good bill.

“We need something in place. We have nothing, really.”

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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