ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a detailed overview of the developments and highlights problematic features of the Canadian response to Internet child pornography. Although there were a number of attempts at legislation, there was no specific law in Canada criminalizing child pornography until 1993. As far as the child pornography provisions are concerned, a child is defined as under the age of 18 in line with the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The British Columbia Court of Appeal judgment was bound to be challenged at the Canadian Supreme Court level and, as Martin observes, the appeal to the Canadian Supreme Court was portrayed publicly as a contest between freedom of expression and the protection of children. The British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that the Crown had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that 'Boyabuse' advocated or counselled the commission of sexual crimes against children.
