The bill, which the government is expected to pass through Parliament without difficulty, provides that those who “knowingly cause child pornography to be viewed” will be guilty of an offence. Inadvertent viewing of child porn, for example by opening an e-mail attachment without knowing its contents, will not be a crime. Accessing child porn will carry a five year maximum prison sentence.
According to news agency Reuters, other new offences in the bill include transmitting child pornography, whether by e-mail or otherwise, of providing child porn site addresses, and of exporting child porn from Canada (importing it is already a crime under Canadian law). The maximum penalty for these offences would be 10 years imprisonment. Judges can also order the deletion from Canadian servers of any on-line child porn and any links to foreign child porn sites.