Bill 17 explained in plain English
Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, establishes Human Trafficking Awareness Day, creates new provisions for protection orders against human traffickers and child exploiters, establishes a civil remedy for victims of trafficking, and updates the sex offender registry to include related offences.
Bill 17, the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, enacts two new laws and amends an existing one in Ontario. It proclaims February 22 as Human Trafficking Awareness Day. It also creates the Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016, which allows for protection orders against individuals who have engaged in or are likely to engage in child sexual exploitation or human trafficking. This new Act also establishes a civil right for victims of human trafficking to sue their traffickers. Finally, it amends Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000, to include certain human trafficking offences within the definition of 'sex offence'.
- Enacts the Human Trafficking Awareness Day Act, 2016.
- Enacts the Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016.
- Amends Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000.
- Victims of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking
- Individuals who engage in child sexual exploitation or human trafficking
- The general public (through awareness day and potential legal actions)
- Law enforcement and the justice system (through protection orders and new offences)
- Victims of human trafficking have the right to sue their traffickers.
- Individuals found to have engaged in child sexual exploitation or human trafficking may be subject to protection orders.
- Contravention of a protection order can result in significant fines or imprisonment.
- Publication or broadcast of certain information related to protection order proceedings is prohibited under penalty.
- The Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, came into force on the day it received Royal Assent (all sections except those in Schedule 2 and 3).
- Schedule 1 (Human Trafficking Awareness Day Act, 2016) came into force on the day the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016 received Royal Assent.
- Schedule 2 (Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016) comes into force on the first anniversary of the day the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016 receives Royal Assent.
- Schedule 3 (Amendments to Christopher's Law) comes into force on the first anniversary of the day the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016 receives Royal Assent.
- Individuals convicted of contravening a protection order may face fines up to $50,000.
- Individuals convicted of contravening publication bans or confidentiality rules may face fines up to $5,000.
- Corporations convicted of contravening publication bans or confidentiality rules may face fines up to $50,000.
- Victims of human trafficking may be awarded damages, including general, special, aggravated, and punitive damages, and may also seek an accounting of profits from the trafficker.
- Contravention of a protection order is an offence punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 or imprisonment for up to two years, or both.
- Contravention of publication bans or confidentiality rules is an offence punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment for up to two years (for individuals), or a fine of up to $50,000 (for corporations).
- The specific regulations prescribing procedures for protection orders, service of documents, and other matters are not detailed within the provided text.
- The exact date on which the Act received Royal Assent is not specified, which affects the commencement dates for the schedules.
This Act proclaims February 22 each year as Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Source: Schedule 1, Section 1
This Act allows judges to issue protection orders to prevent individuals from engaging in child sexual exploitation or human trafficking, establishes a civil cause of action for victims of human trafficking, and sets out penalties for contravening protection orders or publication bans.
Source: Schedule 2
The definition of 'sex offence' is expanded to include specific offences related to the trafficking of persons under 18 years of age.
Source: Schedule 3, Section 1
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced