Harper Government's Legislation to Protect Victims from Sex Offenders Passes Parliament

OTTAWA, December 8, 2010 — Today the Honourable Vic Toews, Canada’s Public Safety Minister, announced that legislation to strengthen the National Sex Offender Registry and the National DNA Data Bank has passed Parliament and will become law following Royal Assent.

"The passing of these important new tools for our police is outstanding news for the safety of our families and communities. I am pleased that our Government has now passed this legislation that will ensure that the National Sex Offender Registry is an effective tool to prevent and investigate crimes," said Minister Toews. "Our Government has once again delivered action that works to put the rights of victims and the most vulnerable in our society first."

The tough new amendments that will soon become law ensure that:

• convicted sex offenders are automatically included in the registry;
• convicted sex offenders are automatically included in the data bank;
• police can use the registry proactively to prevent sexual offences, not just to investigate crimes after the fact;
• authorities can include in the Registry those returning to Canada after being convicted of sex offences outside the country;
• such offenders are required to report their conviction to police within seven days of arriving in Canada;
• police can notify foreign or other Canadian police when sex offenders are travelling in their area to assist them in the prevention or investigation of a crime of a sexual nature;
• the same reforms would apply to the military justice system;
• offenders must report details of their employment and volunteer work and absences from their residence of seven days or more;
• correctional authorities can notify the registration centre of the offender’s address when serving the custodial portion of a sentence temporarily in the community for seven days or more;
• the registry includes information regarding the offender’s vehicle(s), including company vehicles – license plate, make, model, body type, year of manufacture and colour; and
• the registry includes information on how the offender committed their crimes (method of operation), to help police investigate subsequent cases.

See also:

• Bill S-2, Protecting Victims from Sex Offenders Act: www.parl.gc.ca

For further information:

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
media@ps-sp.gc.ca