FRANCAIS

May 22, 2001

A cyber tip line and the Children Online Protection Committee are two new measures being undertaken by the provincial government to protect Manitoba children from being exploited on the Internet, Attorney General Gord Mackintosh announced today.

The Children Online Protection Committee will be co-chaired by Lianna McDonald, executive director of Child Find Manitoba, and Rob Finlayson, assistant deputy attorney general and head of prosecutions for Manitoba Justice. One of the committee’s first tasks will be to set up a cyber tip line so that people can report instances of child pornography and Internet luring.

Cyber tip lines have proven effective for increasing child safety in other jurisdictions as they bridge the gap between those who wish to report online crimes and the law enforcement agencies that require the information. Manitoba's cyber tip line will be the first of its kind in Canada.

"Manitoba has already taken a lead role in protecting children online by urging the federal government to enact an Internet luring offence," said Mackintosh. "However, we feel we can do more at the provincial level to prevent the exploitation of children through the Internet. This is an important public safety issue. Our laws and policies have not kept pace with advances in new technology."

"Child Find Manitoba is pleased to partner with the province to ensure that everything possible is done to protect children from those who use the Internet to commit crimes against them," said McDonald. "It is critical that Manitoba continues to assess ways to better protect our children online, and this committee will do that."

The committee’s membership will include representation from government departments, police, community and the computer industry including Internet service providers. Funding of $41,000 will help support the work of the committee, which will report to the attorney general.

"Unfortunately, technological advances have made it possible for predators to invade our homes, schools and libraries in ways that were not possible only a few years ago," said Mackintosh. "Working together, I believe we can confront these challenging issues to further safeguard society’s most vulnerable citizens, our children."

The committee’s mandate includes:

• assisting victims;
• setting up a cyber tip line;
• promoting industry self-regulation by Internet service providers;
• encouraging the use of filtering;
• assisting in the identification of child pornography and luring on the Internet;
• gathering research on the extent of exploitative material on the Internet; and,
• recommending prevention strategies to further child safety.

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• Approximately one in five youth received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet in the previous year.
• One in 33 received an aggressive sexual solicitation -- asking for a meeting, calling on the telephone, sending regular mail, money or gifts.
• One in four had unwanted exposure to pictures of naked people or people having sex in the previous year.
• One in 17 was threatened or harassed.
• Girls were targeted at almost twice the rate as boys, 66 per cent versus 34 per cent.
• Of the targeted youth, 77 per cent were age 14 or older.
• In 70 per cent of the incidents, youth were at home when they were solicited. In 22 per cent, youth were in someone else's home.
• Less that 10 per cent of sexual solicitations and three per cent of unwanted exposure incidents were reported to authorities.