Minister of Justice
Eighteen years without a measure of the effect of the age of 16; four demands by 24 October.
The letter ·
Age of protection, S.C. 2008, c. 6 - 18 years without a federal measurement of the effect on children aged 16 and 17
Hello.
Attention: The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
Parliament set the age of protection at 16 years on 1 May 2008, by S.C. 2008, c. 6, sections 13 and 54, brought into force by SI/2008-34. 18 years have passed and no federal measurement exists of what that threshold did to children of 16 and 17. The Minister answers for the provision. The provision has never been evaluated.
WHAT THE RECORD HOLDS TODAY.
The single published figure showing who offends against victims of 16 and 17 is that 82 percent of accused persons were over the age of 18. It was published in 2014, on 2012 data. Statistics Canada confirmed in writing on 16 September 2026 that its subject matter experts know of no update to it.
Table 35-10-0217 stops at the age group of 17 years and younger. For 2024 it records 24,505 victims of police-reported sexual offences in that group, which is 67 children a day, and 20,171 of them are girls. Statistics Canada confirmed in writing on 16 September 2026 that a user cannot disaggregate beyond a published table.
A request for 12 numbers, 1 victim age group of 16 and 17 by 2 accused groups for 2019 to 2024, has produced 3 incompatible reasons in 7 days and no numbers, and no section of the Statistics Act has been cited against it. The Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime wrote on 24 September 2026 that it recognizes a significant gap in measurement and that the gap affects the ability of Parliament to assess the impact of its own laws.
ANSWER BY 24 OCTOBER 2026.
Confirm whether the Department of Justice holds any evaluation of the effect of the age of protection on persons of 16 and 17 conducted after 1 May 2008, and identify it.
Name the branch of the Department responsible for evaluating the effect of that provision.
Confirm whether the Department will support release of the 12 numbers by Statistics Canada, and if not, name the reason.
State whether Canada's combined seventh and eighth periodic reports to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, due 11 January 2027 under paragraph 53 of CRC/C/CAN/CO/5-6, will report the absence of this measurement.
THE NEXT FLOOR.
Silence or refusal goes to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, all of which hold my submissions on this file.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban
No answer