OTTAWA — The Harper government moved Thursday to eliminate house arrest as punishment for sex crimes against children, by proposing legislation that would automatically jail offenders for at least 90 days for some offences and a minimum of five years for others.

 

With former child victim Sheldon Kennedy at his side, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told a news conference that his legislation — which would remove discretion for judges to impose sentences as they see fit — will make penalties more consistent nationwide.

 

"They would ensure that conditional sentences such as house arrest will no longer be available for these offences," said Nicholson, whose bill calls for mandatory minimum sentences for seven crimes, including sex assault, exposure, Internet luring and incest.

 

The proposed legislation, called the Protecting Children from Sexual Predators Act, also rewords the existing Criminal Code ban on Internet luring, to make it clear that "grooming" young people online by sending them sexually explicit material fits the crime and that it will garner a jail term of at least 90 days.

 

Mandatory minimum jail terms are central to the Harper government's law-and-order agenda. The Conservatives have already proposed automatic jail time for selling drugs, growing marijuana, human smuggling and white-collar crimes. Also, mandatory imprisonment for a variety of gun-related crimes became law two years ago.

 

Mandatory minimums for crimes against children are not new. The previous Liberal government imposed automatic incarceration for nine child-exploitation offences, and the government on Thursday proposed additions to the list.

 

The bill also seeks to hike the minimum sentences on crimes against children that already garner automatic jail time.

 

Mandatory minimum sentences are controversial in that they strip judges of their discretion to tailor sentences to fit a case, and critics contend they will lead to more plea bargaining to avoid stiffer sentences. Automatic jailing is also expensive — the Conservatives are expected to spend billions of dollars in the coming years to imprison more offenders and keep them there longer.

 

"Mandatory minimums are very contentious, but child-rights organizations do support them because the problem we're facing right now is the reality that the judiciary just doesn't get it," said Mark Hecht, of the advocacy group Beyond Borders. "A big issue is there is a lack of consistency across our country in a big way."

 

Kennedy, a former NHL player who was assaulted as a teen by his former coach, Graham James, lauded the bill as a sign that society is finally recognizing "the damage that sex abuse has on young people."

 

The proposed legislation, which would impose a minimum one-year term for sex assault, would not have made a difference for James, who was sentenced to 3.5 years for assaulting Kennedy and another unnamed player about 350 times over 10 years. James turned himself in late last month to face other sex-assault charges.

 

The bill, promised in the throne speech last March opening the current session of Parliament, follows other Conservative measures to crack down on child sex crimes.

 

The government introduced a bill last spring that would force Internet service providers to report online child pornography and, in 2008, the age of sexual consent was raised to 16 from 14.

 

There are already more than 40 crimes in Canada that carry fixed minimum jail terms.

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