Close X
Sunday, March 16, 2025
ADVT 
National

Put politics aside and act on online harms, mother of sextortion victim tells MPs

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Dec, 2024 02:18 PM
  • Put politics aside and act on online harms, mother of sextortion victim tells MPs

Parents of children who died because of online sexual extortion are urging MPs to act on online harms legislation.

The bill and other legislation have been blocked from moving forward for months due to a parliamentary privilege debate raging between the Liberals and Conservatives.

Justice Minister Arif Virani split the bill into two parts this week heeding calls from critics to separate the more controversial hate speech provisions from the child exploitation components.

But the bill still can't move forward until the privilege filibuster is over.

Barbie Lavers, whose teenage son died by suicide after being extorted online over intimate images, told House of Commons committee today that she supports the act and asked politicians to come to a temporary alliance and stop using children as political pawns to show “one party is more correct than the other.”

Carole Todd, whose daughter Amanda died by suicide due to online sextortion, told MPs it is hurtful to watch political arguments after waiting 12 years for legislation.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Anti-Israel war protesters arrested following sit-in at parliamentary building

Anti-Israel war protesters arrested following sit-in at parliamentary building
Fourteen people were arrested on Parliament Hill this morning after staging a sit-in demanding Canada immediately stop sending any weapons to Israel. The protesters from Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the entrance to the Confederation Building, which contains dozens of offices for members of Parliament.

Anti-Israel war protesters arrested following sit-in at parliamentary building

Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report

Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report
A new report says Canada needs to rethink its approach to health care to help manage rising costs as people age. CSA Group, an organization that helps policymakers develop standards around health and safety, says health care currentlycosts about $12,000 per year for each person 65 years and older, compared to $2,700 for each person younger than 65. 

Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report

Defence argues evidence too thin in Ottawa neo-Nazi terrorism trial

Defence argues evidence too thin in Ottawa neo-Nazi terrorism trial
Defence lawyers for an Ottawa graphic designer facing terror charges over his alleged involvement with the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division say the evidence against their client is flimsy. Closing arguments are wrapping up in the trial of Patrick Macdonald, who pleaded not guilty to three charges of terrorism and hate speech.

Defence argues evidence too thin in Ottawa neo-Nazi terrorism trial

Cucumbers recalled due to salmonella

Cucumbers recalled due to salmonella
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is recalling field cucumbers – some of which were distributed in B-C – for possible salmonella contamination. The affected products from Mexico may have been labelled “SunFed” or sold loose without a brand name.

Cucumbers recalled due to salmonella

Erratic driver crashes into Nanaimo home

Erratic driver crashes into Nanaimo home
Police in Nanaimo say a driver doing donuts lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a home on Saturday. The R-C-M-P says it's fortunate no one in the home was injured when the vehicle drove over the lawn and was lodged into the foundation, destroyed some brick work and a basement window.

Erratic driver crashes into Nanaimo home

B.C. police discipline ruling voided because officer overseeing investigation retired

B.C. police discipline ruling voided because officer overseeing investigation retired
The disciplinary decision must now be reissued, dragging out the victim's pursuit of justice over how she was treated by colleagues in the wake of the 2019 attack. She called the situation a "screw-up" by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which she said had failed its oversight mission.

B.C. police discipline ruling voided because officer overseeing investigation retired